


Manning Park Wolves

by Masoena



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha Jared Padalecki, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Angst, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kissing, Light Petting, M/M, Omega Jensen, Pack Dynamics, Pack Feels, Were-Creatures, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-11-13 12:51:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11185503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masoena/pseuds/Masoena
Summary: Jared finds a gravely injured wolf by the side of the road, there is more to the wolf than there appears to be. Jared is a park ranger in Manning Park BC Canada.Update: 9/16/2018:I lost 3 chapters for this fic but working on re-writing them. More to come in this story.





	1. Roadside Assistance

It was a quiet evening in Manning Park, too cold out for any campers to be using the provincial campsites just yet except for the hardcore types who somehow enjoyed freezing their toes off sleeping in a tent at near zero temperatures. 

As much as Jared loved his job as a park ranger, he hated camping with a passion but has loved nature and wildlife all his life, growing up with a logger father meant he’d spent more than his fair share out in the woods rain or shine hiking, hunting and ATVing. Being a park ranger, he figured out, was the perfect compromise to be near nature every single day but not exposed to the elements if he didn’t want to be. 

He steered his work-issued pickup truck smoothly along the curve of the main road, knowing each twist and turn like the back of his hand, making his way towards the park ranger cabin he got to live in while on duty, one of the best perks he thought about working this job. 

What wasn’t normal was the furry and very large big tawny coloured still form next to the road, just within the strip of grass to his right, he almost missed it but figured it to be an animal of some sort and came to a stop just a few meters down from it. Having approached his fair share of wild animals as part of his profession, he grabbed the tranquilizer gun stashed behind the driver’s seat of his truck, made sure it was loaded and carefully got out of the cab and kept his movements smooth not wanting to scare the animal if it happened to wake up at that very second. Just before leaving his truck behind he attached the first aid kit to his belt and grabbed one of the ready-for-use tranq shots and stowed it in his jacket pocket. As he walked back to the animal, he eyed the truck bed of his vehicle, realizing he didn’t have any of the cages with him to even transport the animal should he need to. He slowly walked over to the big pile of fur, tranquilizer gun aimed at what he figured was the flank of the largest wolf he’d ever seen in these parts of the woods. He had known that wolves roamed the forests around here, even a full pack of them considering the many different wolves he’d seen from a distance over the years. Cataloguing the majestic creatures had become a bit of a hobby of his. Eyes trained and roamed from the bushy tail laying limp in the grass up the rear of the wolf, all the way across its back and finally to the wolf’s head searching for wounds and injuries that would explain why it was lying by the side of the road. He had already made up his mind, due to the sheer size alone, that he would tranq it as soon as it made any kind of noise or moved in any way but he needed to be sure if it was still alive to figure out his plan of action. The eyes of the wolf were shut, its nuzzle completely lax but with some relief he saw that the rib cage was going up and down in a steady rhythm, albeit a bit too slowly for a wolf, yet indicating that the creature was still alive. 

He could see that the front right paw was all bloodied, the rear right flank chafed and covered in blood. The muzzle also looked to have a few scrapes, with a small rivulet of blood soaking the grass beneath it. Observing the injuries he had a good idea of what had happened, probably some city-slicker driving too fast on a country road, not seeing the wolf in time, running into it and leaving it behind like road kill. Anger bubbled up inside Jared at that thought and the recklessness and utter disregard some people seemed to have. He moved up closer so he could nudge the wolf with the barrel of his tranq gun, when the barrel connected, the creature let out a heart-wrenching low keening sound as if he’d just kicked the poor thing. Knowing just how dangerous an injured animal can be, especially one that looked like a man-sized wolf, he started to talk quietly to the creature, trying to offer it comfort through his tone of voice. “Hey buddy, take it easy… I’m here to help you. I’m going to inject you with this to make you sleep and to take the pain away momentarily and then I’ll take you to the vet to have you looked at. I’m sorry you were injured by some dumbass tourist.” With that he crouched down eyes locked in on the wolf’s face. As he inserted the needle of the tranq shot the wolf whined quietly and almost sadly, a sound so timid and quiet completely at odds with its large size. The wolf lifted its head for a split second, luminous, tired green eyes unfocusedly looking at Jared for just a few seconds before it laid its head down once more, the tranquilizer taking effect. Jared wondered to himself about the eyes, they seemed familiar and yet his brain would not make any connection to take that train of thought further. His ranger training kicked in and he pulled out his cell phone to call Samantha to let her know he was coming over. Sam answered right away but unfortunately had to inform him that she was a few hours out and that he would do better to take the wolf back to his ranger cabin and she’d meet him there. The vet’s office was about an hours’ drive from his cabin but his cabin was closer to where Sam was with a local farmer helping with calving just then. She had asked him a few pointed questions about the wolf’s condition and with Jared’s answers seemed satisfied that the equipment and set up he had at the cabin would do fine and promised to be there within the hour. 

Jared unclipped the first aid kit from his belt and placed it on the asphalt of the road and proceeded to look over the wolf to see what he’d need. With the wolf completely unconscious he proceeded to first muzzle the wolf for his own safety. He used a broad 2 inch gauze bandage and after checking that there weren’t any injuries to that portion of the wolf’s muzzle, proceeded to wrap the wolf’s mouth shut with firm wraps of the gauze. “Sorry buddy, wouldn’t want you to bite me as I try to help you… I promise I want to help you.” God why was he talking to this animal as if it was a person, he asked himself in the privacy of his mind. First order of business was the front paw, which sat at a very strange angle to the rest of the wolf’s body and he splinted and bandaged it with efficient and competent hands. One weird thing that happened was when he bandaged the paw, his sterling silver friendship ring he wore on his right hand touched the wolf’s skin and he could swear he heard something sizzle. He touched his ring lightly to another part of the wolf’s skin and indeed the skin started to sizzle and he could see curls of smoke starting to build. WTF?! Jared’s brain supplied helpfully. Despite not understanding the reaction he pragmatically took the ring off, put it in his pant pocket and continued looking the wolf over for injuries. When he was all done he had established the wolf was a he, his front right paw was broken, his left hind leg seemed severely chafed (road burn probably), there were numerous scratches all over the wolf’s body further cementing his idea of what had happened to the poor creature. It also seemed like there may be some rib damage but he’d need Samantha’s opinion for that assessment. He wasn’t sure exactly if pressure bandages would do any good on a wolf but he tried the best he could. 

To ensure the wolf would not injure itself while inside the cab of his truck and would try to jump to the front seat, he gently bandaged both his front legs together and then his hind legs also using more of the soft gauze bandages from the first aid kit. With all the first aid done, he was kind of at a loss as to how to move him properly without causing new or worsening the existing injuries. What got him moving in the end was the body temperature of the wolf, he walked back to the truck and opened up the back door and laid down a blanket half on the seat and half off so he could fold it over the wolf. A wolf’s temperature was similar to that of humans but this wolf was shivering and cold. In the end Jared grabbed the wolf by its rump and across its chest trying to keep compression to a minimum as he pumped his strong legs from squatting to standing upright, finding his center of gravity while he had his arms full of roughly 185lbs of furry wolf. The size of the animal stunned him yet again but all he wanted was to keep him safe and get him home. Not having turned the wolf over until he picked him up, he realized that there was more blood on the side that had been facing the grass. He walked slowly over to his pickup truck and kept his arms steady and slid the wolf gingerly onto the blanket in the backseat of his pickup truck, sliding in from the driver’s side with the wolf’s head going in first. He wanted to be able to see the wolf’s head while driving to be able to see if he were to wake up. He gently wrapped the blanket up and over the wolf tucking it in slightly along the wolf’s spine. Then got into the driver’s seat and started the careful drive home to his cabin but not before slipping his ring back on that was in the same pocket as his car keys. The wolf made a few whimpering sounds whenever he’d go over even the tiniest bumps in the road but beyond that the drive was fortunately uneventful. 

Jared pulled up to the back door of his cabin, where the secondary vet clinic was set up (Samantha had realized years before that this would be a good secondary location for her to work out of) next to reasonably large fenced in area, multiple kennels and various portable cages and carriers neatly organized against the back of the cabin under the slanted roof that extended out from the cabin. Jared was well equipped to help and assist any kind of wildlife whatever the size of the animal, well except a fully grown grizzly bear perhaps. The cabin came with an extension that had been built about two years ago, roughly 600 square feet it was an open room equipped almost as fully as Samantha’s main vet clinic with a wall of kennels and one large cage that had a door both into the room and out into the fenced in area. It was that large cage inside the temperature controlled room that Jared was going to put the wolf, who was once again back in his arms, in. He marvelled again at the sheer size of the beast he was holding and how he would have to research the types of wolves in the area, because this one was larger and heavier than any he’d ever seen. 

The cage was tall enough for him to walk into, which said something since he was just over 6’4” in height and the floor of the cage was half taken up by a sleeping pad with the overall size of the cage measuring about 6’ x 4’ in surface space. But he didn’t put the wolf into the cage just yet, instead he placed the creature carefully and still wrapped in the blanket from his truck onto the examination table, wishing he’d have the wherewithal to warm the surface of the metal table first. Taking a quick glance at his wrist watch he knew Samantha would be here in about 20 minutes and he didn’t want to have to move the wolf to the cage and back out again for the examination. 

He couldn’t help himself and ran the fingers of his ring-free hand through the wolf’s fur, careful not to run over scrapes or injuries while doing so. The fur was much softer than he anticipated it to be, much like a husky’s fur rather than that of a wild animal such as a wolf albeit substantially matted with dirt and blood. The wolf made low keening sounds and when Jared rubbed his hand gently across the head and ears he could swear that the wolf moved his head into his touch as if taking comfort in it, despite being soundly asleep. Jared made sure the wrappings were still in place on the various injuries as well as on the wolf’s paws to make sure he’d not end up cornered by the animal. “You’re going to be just fine, Sam will be here in a few and will take good care of you.” He readied another tranquilizer shot just in case and kept it beside him within reach, as he settled down at the desk next to the examination table, powered up the laptop sitting there and started searching the web to figure out what the heck kind of wolf he was dealing with here. He’d taken off his ring which always bothered him when trying to type on a laptop keyboard. Before long he heard the tell-tale sounds of a vehicle pulling in, Sam’s truck parking he knew without a doubt. He shut down the laptop and as he did so and the screen went dark, in the reflection he saw the examination table but what was on there was not a wolf but a young man, as naked as the day he was born, around his age all the cuts and bruises just like the wolf had them, the improvised gauze muzzle loosely wrapped around his mouth and around the back of his head, his wrists and ankles wrapped together tightly with gauze bandages. Jared turned around in a hurry only to see the wolf exactly as he’d left him and yet as he turned around to the laptop’s monitor he saw the young man again. 

“What the fuck?!” he yelled to himself in the quiet room and stumbled away from the desk, thinking he must be seeing things. The impossibility of what his own eyes told his brain they’d seen throwing him for a loop something fierce. Just at that moment Sam walked in the door and took a second to take in the scene in front of her, Jared leaning against the wall as far away from the examination table and desk as he could get, a fearful, no make that terrified look in his eyes. Her first impulse being that the wolf had woken up, she grabbed the tranq shot from the desk and went to inject the wolf only to realize it was completely out still, breath stable and even, eyes closed. Its muzzle as relaxed as a wolf’s muzzle could be, not having examined the animal yet she didn’t want to overload its system with tranquilizers. Jared collected himself and shut the laptop screen without another glance at it. “Jared, are you okay? Why were you hugging the wall when I came in?” Sam asks with a concerned but quirky smile on her lips. “Nothing just thought I saw something but hey glad you’re here.” Jared moved over next to Sam and looked down at the wolf lying in front of them at hip height and proceeded to explain to Sam about the injuries he’d already noticed and possible breaks he thought he could feel. Samantha spent a good hour examining the wolf and found there to be few really severe injuries and the scrape and bruises also didn’t seem quite as bad as Jared had described them to her before she got a look at the creature. What she did do a lot of was to wash off the crusted blood and road debris that was stuck on the skin and around many of the wounds. She shared Jared’s opinion about the wolf having been the victim of a hit-and-run incident. She documented her examination by recording her findings and asking Jared to be the photographer as he had been so many times before to record the injuries when they were fresh so that they could use the evidence should they find a lead on who did this to the wolf. Sam appreciated Jared a lot for his love of the wildlife and animals in general, it wasn’t a characteristic that all of his park ranger colleagues shared, many of them were more avid hunters than protectors of wildlife. Once she was satisfied that all the wounds were cleaned, bandaged properly and that the wolf was still out, she left Jared with instructions on continuing care after he’d agreed to take responsibility rather than the wolf having to move to the vet kennels. Samantha was grateful for that, as she knew the farmer she’d just come from had another cow about to go into labour that she needed to be there for. Leaving Jared with the instruction to keep the wolf sedated and to change the bandages every 4-5 hours in the next 24 hour period and to not touch the splint on the front paw, until she was back the next day, she then said good night and left. She also replaced the gauze around the wolf’s muzzle with an actual muzzle to make sure Jared wouldn’t get mauled by the wolf should he wake up unexpectedly. She agreed with Jared that keeping the wolf in the cage he had intended to use was a good idea, as he’d be able to let the wolf outside to do his business when he needed to and he’d be more comfortable on the sleeping pad than on the metal table. 

Once more Jared lifted the big hunk of fur into his arms and walked over and into the cage and placed the wolf gingerly down on the sleeping pad, wrapping a different blanket loosely around the creature. He injected the wolf with another shot of sedatives and once again the wolf let out a quiet low keening sound when the needle went in. “Sorry buddy, you’ll be a lot better come this time tomorrow.” He petted the big wolf for a few minutes after that having felt his heartbeat go up a tiny bit when the injection happened, trying to soothe the beautiful, strong and muscular animal lying at his feet. He also put a big bowl of water into the cage just in case. He then made his way out of the cage, sliding the bolt into place to lock it. He set his phone alarm to 5 hours from then, went into his bedroom to change into a pair of sleep pants, grabbed his pillow and comforter from his bed and made himself comfortable across from the cage on the cot just over from the desk that had his laptop on it, slipping his ring back on his finger, as the digit just felt naked without it. For a second he considered looking at the reflection in his laptop again and curiosity got the better of him, of course the reflection showed nothing but a big wolf lying inside the cage across from the desk. His mind put at ease by this, quickly gave way to the exhaustion and he let himself be dragged into sleep after the eventful day he’d had. 

It took Jared a moment to realize where he was and to figure out what had woken him up, as it hadn’t been his cell phone’s alarm that roused him from sleep. Rubbing sleep from his eyes and sitting upright on the cot he’d been sleeping on he took a glance around the nearly pitch black room. His eyes following what his ears picked up, the low whining whimpers that came from the cage across the room from him. He turned on the small desk lamp to not scare the wolf should he indeed be awake. In the warm glow of the lamp he could make out the wolf and he was twitching and shifting in his sleep, clearly in the grips of a nightmare. The wolf looked like an overgrown puppy right then and Jared just wanted to protect him. Following his instinct he walked over to the cage, grabbing the tranq shot as he went. He considered his options before sliding open the bolt on the cage door, in his restless dream-driven movements the wolf had pushed the blanket off of himself and lay there shivering and twitching still, moaning almost. Jared made sure that the gauze bandages were still in place around the paws and was grateful to see the muzzle Sam had put on the wolf. He crouched down next to the wolf and sat down, he laid the tranq shot behind him to his right so he could grab it if needed and then put one of his hands on the wolf’s body curling his fingers gently into the fur, while his other hand found the wolf’s head and started scratching lightly as if he were petting a friendly neighbourhood dog. As soon as his right hand touched the wolf’s head however the wolf started waking up, the ring on his finger seemingly burning the wolf on touch. 

Blazing green eyes turned on Jared, still a bit unfocused from sedation while a deep growl emanated and vibrated throughout the wolf’s body. Jared took his hands off immediately, slipping the ring from his finger holding up his hands in a non-threatening gesture and threw the ring out of the cage and over onto the cot he’d slept on earlier. The wolf was staring at him, even though he had yet to move, it was clear the animal was now awake and Jared’s right hand reached blindly behind himself for the syringe. The wolf tracked this movement and let out an almost beseeching whimpering howl as if to say that Jared should not sedate him again. “Okay wolf, take it easy … I mean you no harm I promise. This will help you sleep and heal more quickly. You were injured badly.” Jared made to approach the wolf with smooth and slow movements but the wolf’s pleading sounds quickly turned into defensive and threatening growls. Jared noticed that the wolf was struggling to get its legs free and he watched in equal amounts of surprise, shock and fear that the bandages gave almost instantly as the wolf applied pressure pulling his hind and front legs apart. 

Jared’s fear ratcheted up exponentially and in his eagerness to put space between himself and the wolf the syringe slipped back and through under the bars of the cage beyond reach and he found himself scrabbling backwards on hands and feet, ultimately ending up with his back against the opposite wall of the cage rather than out the door which would have been way smarter. There were only a few inches between him and the cage wall and the door just about half a foot over to his right but like a deer in headlights he wasn’t moving. The wolf gingerly put weight on his legs and howled in pain when settling on the splinted front leg but quickly found its balance taking more weight on the other three legs as it stood up on all fours. From Jared’s vantage point of being sat on the floor, the wolf looked gigantic, standing at about 3.5feet tall as he gazed at Jared with his atypically green eyes. Jared thought to himself, this is it, mauled to death by a wolf. It was that thought that finally prompted him into action he slowly got his feet under himself and tried nonchalantly grab onto the cage wall with his right to eventually haul himself up and out the cage door. He had just started to move, flexing his leg muscles and pulling with his arm but the moment he did the wolf was on him, crashing into him flattening his back flush against the cage wall. One heavy paw on each of his shoulders, the force of this made Jared’s head snap back and connect with the hard metal of the cage behind him. Jared saw stars and tried to stay conscious, the wolf’s growling face moved forward and feeling and hearing the wolf scent the side of his neck was the last thing Jared felt, heard and saw with blurry vision before everything went dark. 

Jared’s head fell sideways into the wolf’s snout his torso held up only by the wolf’s paws, with his body being completely limp he slid slowly and further sideways down the wall of the cage onto the floor. The wolf kept his head next to Jared’s head to make sure he would not head-plant onto the concrete floor as Jared’s still and unconscious form came to lay on the floor of the cage at the wolf’s paws.


	2. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some of the story tags will make sense... aftercare, non-sexual manhandling, fluff, cuddles and referenced rape non-con in this chapter, implied violence in this one and let the werewolf aspects unfold is all I can say. More story building and background info and a new character is on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments you guys left. Putting the first chapter up definitely gave me the motivational fire to keep writing. Hope you enjoy chapter 2, some of the tags and warnings will make a lot more sense now.

The first thing Jared noticed was how cold he was, cold concrete flooring seeping its chill into the full length of his body. The second thing he noticed was the dull ache at the back of his head quickly followed by the more pleasant furry blanket that was wrapped all around him, keeping him warm. Except the blanket wasn’t so much a blanket as much as it was the oversized wolf he’d rescued curling up and around Jared and even acting as a pillow with his strong shoulder being where Jared’s head rested. The wolf’s breathing was steady and even, he was asleep. Jared tried his utmost not to freak out, remembering rather astutely just how well his panicked moment went the night before. He slowly lifted his head up trying to crane his neck around to see if he could get to the syringe just outside the cage. It was well beyond his reach and his brain drew a blank as to what to make of the situation. 

He remembered those green eyes being up close to his face and the wolf gently but determinedly scenting his neck just as he’d seen dogs do to one another countless times. With the splitting head ache that seemed to be getting progressively worse the more awake he was, he couldn’t make any sense of that. Did the wolf think he was part of his pack? He realized then that he had his arm all but wrapped around the wolf across his ribcage and he gently lifted his arm up and off, knowing just how broken some of those ribs were yesterday. At that movement the wolf’s breathing pattern changed and Jared saw a big muzzled wolf face look over and down at his own, green eyes curious and worried. Get a grip Jared chided himself, wolves don’t do worry or concern they are wild animals. Jared backed up as much as he could which wasn’t much as he’d slipped down along the bars of the cage and the wolf had him bracketed in between his body and the wall. 

He pushed himself up with much effort and grunting in pain to get into a seated position. The wolf seemed to understand what he was trying to do and moved his legs off of Jared’s to give him room and pulled himself into a seating position himself, sitting on his haunches watching Jared attentively turning his head sideways as he regarded the human. Jared chuckled faintly when he regarded the wolf who was in a perfect “sit” position, looking like an oversized curious and attentive German shepherd. Jared stopped moving once he was upright, letting his head settle, closing his eyes for just a minute to breathe through the pain. 

When he re-opened his eyes, he noticed that the wolf was watching him intently; there was however nothing aggressive in his stance whatsoever just the ever-present sense of curiosity and Jared really hoped it would stay that way. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get up just yet with his vision making the room spin courtesy of what he assumed must be a slight concussion. He gingerly touched the back of his head with his hand and did not come away with blood but there was a decently sized bump growing there, a testament to the fact that cage won against the back of his head. 

While Jared was busy inspecting the back of his head, the wolf moved forward smoothly, nudging his still muzzled nose against Jared’s other palm on Jared’s thigh. The wolf accompanied this motion with a pleading soft sound from the back of his throat as if to ask Jared to take pity on him. Jared turned his palm up to cup the wolf’s snout and brought his other hand down to the back of the wolf’s head to start petting the wolf hesitantly. The wolf proceeded to gently paw at the muzzle that was still securely strapped around his face and Jared now understood what the creature was asking of him. “Oh buddy, I know you don’t like having that thing on you.” The wolf looked up at Jared, his head turned slightly to the side a hopeful gleam in his eyes. 

“Sam’s going to rip me a new one for doing this… provided you don’t maul me to death as soon as I take this off of you. You are not going to bite me are you?” he asked in earnest. The wolf shook his head in a very clear negative gesture as if to say no. “Whoa okay, hold on did you just answer me?” The wolf’s head nodded up and down just like a human signalling yes. Had he not known any better, Jared would swear that he saw amusement in the wolf’s eyes. He reached forward with his hands, trying to keep his movements steady and smooth to undo the buckle of the muzzle at the back of the wolf’s head and gently pulled the thing forward and off the wolf’s snout. The wolf moved forward quickly but gently, as soon as his snout was freed, licked a long strip across Jared’s cheek with his raspy tongue and then promptly turned around to gulp down the water Jared had left for him in the cage the night before. 

Despite his gut telling him otherwise, Jared’s rational brain took over and he used the wolf’s distraction to get himself out of the cage and locked the bolt before the wolf even realized what he’d done. He also swooped up the syringe from the ground outside the cage and took a few gulping breaths of air to try and stop the spinning this sudden movement caused in his vision, his right hand leaning heavily on the top of the cage. The wolf had interrupted his drinking and turned around looking at Jared with sad, wounded eyes, crouching down with his head on his front paws looking up at Jared with puppy dog eyes. 

Jared actually felt guilty, the wolf hadn’t hurt him, had actually kept him warm after he had been knocked out. But that couldn’t have been on purpose the wolf was just too excited and the cage too close to his head, Jared rationalized in his own mind. “Look I’m sorry buddy… I… thank you for keeping me warm and not killing me in my sleep.” Jared muttered and slowly stumbled over to the cot, his ring sitting on the blanket he’d used the night before. He grabbed it and went to put it on his finger, when a loud and definitely aggressive growl stopped him in his tracks. “You really don’t like this ring do you buddy? Fine I’ll stop wearing it for the time being.” The wolf sat once more on its haunches, looking for all intents and purposes like a puppy watching his owner. Jared lay down on the cot as his vision just wouldn’t stop spinning, rested his arm over his eyes and forehead, one of his long legs still half off the cot when he fell into a light snooze not quite asleep but certainly not awake either. 

When he came to, he lifted his arm and brought it down onto his sternum, squinting his eyes at the warm sunlight that streamed into the room, feeling a warm spot on his thigh he slowly took inventory of how he felt. The room wasn’t spinning anymore which was a blessing and the bump at the back of his head had receded to being a dull ache. Yay for body regeneration during sleep, Jared thought to himself. It took a few seconds for him to realize that the warm spot on his thigh was his wolf friend’s head, resting there, green eyes regarding Jared steadily and with worry. Jared turned to look at the cage and saw that the bolt was undone and somehow the wolf managed to open the cage door and come over to where he was. The gesture seemed comforting as if the wolf was standing guard for Jared while he was sleeping off his concussion. Jared just stayed where he was, tendrils of trust growing steadily for the wolf and enjoying the closeness with this amazingly majestic animal. He brought his hand down on the wolf’s head to pet him and scratch him behind the ears which he seemed to enjoy a lot judging by the way he leaned into Jared’s touch and palm, licking Jared’s hand affectionately. “You’re just like an overgrown puppy dog, aren’t you?” Jared said quietly to the big wolf, who responded with a huffy growl as if to say, not a puppy dog, watch it. “Okay okay big bad wolf, not a puppy dog I get it.” Jared said and smiled down at his new furry friend dimples on his cheeks. At that the wolf moved his body up along the cot and proceeded to lick Jared’s face once more and nuzzled into Jared’s neck, which prompted Jared to bring both of his arms up and all but hug the wolf gently enjoying warmth and softness of the wolf’s coat. 

“Jared… what the??!!” Samantha yelled when she entered the room and in a motion faster than either Jared or the wolf could follow, had the syringe pressed into the wolf’s flank and pushed the plunger to sedate the wild animal. The wolf yelped in surprise, growling and turning around to see who would try and attack him and his human but his movements were uncoordinated at best. The sedatives took effect immediately and the wolf stumbled away and forward towards Samantha but then came to lie on his side once again unconscious. “Jared, are you okay? Did he attack you?” Samantha had moved up to Jared kneeling beside the cot he was on, concern and worry edged into her face and her blue eyes scanning for injuries. “I’m fine Sam, he wasn’t hurting me. In fact I think he’s downright friendly for a wolf.” Jared mused, his words sounding ridiculous to his own ears even though he knew in his gut and from what he had just experienced that they were true. “Jared what is going on here? This is a wolf not a fricking golden retriever.” Samantha was getting angry. “It looked like he was going for your throat when I walked in!” Jared proceeded to explain to her what had happened, leaving out the laptop reflection bit and she stared at him incredulously. “Jared I think you hit your head harder than you think.” She responded when he was done talking and went to inspect the back of his head. “Sam, listen, I know what this sounds like, and heck it sounds crazy even to my ears when I hear myself saying it out loud. But this is what happened, could you please look him over and let me know where we are at injury wise? He was quite agile this whole time and I wonder just how injured he actually was.” Jared explained while turning his head so Sam could check his bump, he knew better than to not let her fuss over it. 

“You know I thought the same thing, the severity of injury you described did not match what I patched up last night and I know you are very good at gauging such things.” Samantha replied before turning around to go and examine her wolf patient. She took her time carefully checking all the injuries she and Jared had recorded the night before. The ribs were healed completely, she couldn’t feel any breaks or soft spots anymore, the abrasions were all gone and completely healed over with fresh skin, if she weren’t seeing it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it. Curiosity getting the better of her she removed the splint from the wolf’s front leg but noticed that it was still not quite healed and she re-splinted it. “Jared… I don’t understand, he’s all healed up save for the front leg. I have never seen anything like it.” Jared looked at her dumbfounded, not really knowing what to add to that statement. “Well, let’s get him back into the cage and if you are certain he means you no harm, take the splint off in a couple of days and make sure to get him some food and more water, he’ll need all the strength he can get.” Samantha said in eventually. “Also take it easy with that head of yours. I’ll check in on you tomorrow night okay?” and with that she grabbed her jacket and bag and left. Jared walked over to the sleeping wolf on the floor and crouched down petting his fur, checking all the injuries himself just like Samantha had just done for his own peace of mind. His wolf was indeed healed up, only his one front leg apparently in need of bandages still. It felt wrong to him to put the wolf back into the cage but what if he wakes up angry or pissed off, his pragmatic brain supplied. In the end Jared decided to err on the side of caution and hefted the wolf back into the cage, sliding the bolt home but not locking it with a padlock. Given the shot he’d been given he’d be out for a good 4-5 hours solid. So he figured he better go get some food for his new house guest. Bundling the wolf up in the blanket once more he left, locking the door behind him. He first headed out to the grocery store in town which ate up nearly three hours of his day; think 1 hour each way just to get to the store. Then he drove down the road to his neighbours where he knew he’d be able to pick up some fresh rabbits and pieces of deer meat to feed to his lupine friend. After returning to his cabin, a feeling of unease spread in his gut at the sight before him. 

One of the windows in the wall of the vet room extension had a wolf-sized hole in it, trails of blood leading away from it into the nearby forest and the vet room itself was utterly empty and completely ransacked as if the hulk had gone a few rounds. Nothing seemed in its place anymore and even the cot was turned on its side, the examination table leaning up against the cage. Jared’s face fell, sadness and worry spreading that he had lost his wolf’s trust and the animal decided to panic and run, follow his instincts to flee. But then that didn’t sit right with Jared, it didn’t compute with the interactions he’d had with the animal thus far. Jared rushed to put away the groceries and the fresh meat he’d gotten from his friend. He quickly packed some of the rabbit meat into a cooler with ice packs. That cooler went into his backpack along with a few protein bars and bottles of water for himself. He wanted to make sure the wolf was okay, there was too much blood for his liking on the window pane and leading away from it. He also grabbed the hunting rifle from the backseat of his pickup truck, just in case. 

The trail of blood went across the gravel parking spaces behind his cabin across the street and into the thick evergreen forest beyond the roadway. Fortunately the underbrush wasn’t too thick in that area and Jared managed to make good progress following the sickening trail of blood further and further into the greenery. He was about 300 feet into the forest when he found him, except it wasn’t his wolf that he found but a very scratched up naked man curled up in on himself lying on the mossy ground against the trunk of one of the massive trees. “Hey are you okay?” Jared asked as he moved in closer. Did the wolf attack this man and why was he naked were just two of many rapid fire questions flitting through his mind, as he tried to sort out by level of priority what he should ask this stranger out loud. He glanced over the stranger’s body, cheeks tingeing red at the fact that he was looking a butt naked man. The right wrist was sitting a very odd angle and the man had what looked like claw marks all over his body, down his back, across his biceps and bite marks in various places with blood seeping lazily from a number of wounds. His skin was a creamy white colour interspersed with smatterings of coppery freckles all over. Jared tried to catalogue the multitude of injuries he saw on the human being in front of him. 

“Hey can you hear me? What is your name?” Jared said quietly, when he got no response but could see that the man was breathing, he continued: “Listen, my name is Jared, I’m a Park Ranger and I live very close by, is it okay if I help you and get you back to my place so that I can clean your wounds and that?” always ask for permission Jared thought back to the countless first-aid courses he’d taken since he was a teenager. He saw the stranger’s head nod and heard a weak: “Jens… my name is Jensen.” The man on the ground replied barely a whisper. “Ok Jensen, nice to meet you. How is your back? Can you feel your hands and toes? Can you move your neck okay?” Jared asked these questions in slow succession waiting for a nod or shake of the head after each of them. Last but not least he enquired: “Do you think you can walk?” as he placed the plaid shirt he’d put on before going out shopping earlier on the stranger to give him at least a modicum of coverage. 

It was as he put down the shirt that he realized how red, scratched up and painful the man’s butt looked and he didn’t want to know what the creamy slightly translucent liquid was that seeped out from the guy’s anus. Empathy, sadness and rage fought in Jared’s heart at that moment. Raped in the middle of the fucking forest Jared thought to himself and his heart went out to the man in front of him. The stranger answered his question with a nod of his head but Jared had his doubts, seeing as one of the man’s ankles was swollen up like an apple all around the joint. “Alright, let’s try and get you upright, you’ll have to turn over and I’ll help you up. Is it okay for me to help you? I’ll slide my arm under your armpit and around your back and we’ll get up together okay?” Jared asked and Jensen nodded his assent. In slow motion, hissing along the way, Jensen slowly turned over holding on to the plaid shirt to keep himself somewhat covered until he was sitting on his hip. Jared figured he knew why he wasn’t siting on his butt just yet. Jared dropped his backpack he’d come back for it later, figuring he’d need all his strength to help this guy. He then slid his right arm under Jensen’s left counted to three and heaved the man up using the tree trunk they were next to as stability. Jensen was upright for all of one second, when the shooting pain from his ankle made his leg buckle and he sagged against Jared full-on dead weight right at that moment. Jared had anticipated as much and had already put himself in a half squat stance to be able to take the guy’s weight. Now that he had had him upright for a few seconds, Jared realized the guy was quite tall just over 6’, when he had looked so small lying on the ground. 

He re-positioned his arm slightly around Jensen’s back and turned him so he was facing him and lifted him up and over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Jensen’s body went limp completely once he had him braced and settled and he made his way as quickly as possible back to the cabin. Where Jared held on to Jensen, he could feel the stickiness of blood and other body fluids under his palms. Couldn’t have been his wolf who did this, this was something, someone else, people could be such assholes Jared thought to himself. He made it to the cabin without incident, not a sound from the guy over his shoulder. Since the extension at the back of the house was a complete mess, he walked through the front door, into his living room past the kitchen to the left and into the guest bedroom, leaving the bedding as it was sheet, comforter and cover. He set Jensen down carefully on his side, the same side Jensen had favoured when he had turned around on the forest floor on his own power. He left him there for a sec to go and grab his more extensive first aid kit he kept in his bathroom under the sink and jogged back across to the guest bedroom. 

“Listen Jensen, I need to clean these wounds but I don’t want to touch you unless you can give me consent to do so. Are you okay if I do this?” Jared asked, waiting with bated breath for a response that didn’t come. “Jensen, can you hear me, are you with me?” he asked again gently tapping the guy’s shoulder hoping to rouse him. Sighing to himself but knowing he did the right thing in the end, Jared started cleaning Jensen’s wounds starting with his face, neck, upper back, his arms and by the time he made it down to Jensen’s legs, he had skipped the backside thus far, he felt Jensen move slightly. Jared removed his hands immediately and asked: “Jensen, can you hear me? I don’t know if you remember but I’m Jared, found you in the forest. You are safe, you are at my cabin. I’m trying to patch you up, clean out the wounds so they don’t get infected.” He stated waiting for the other man to react. “Th…. Thank you.” Jensen said, his voice so weak and quiet. “Are you okay with me doing this, if anything I do hurts too much please tell me or let me know somehow? I don’t want to cause you any more pain.” Jared said hopefully and with sincerest concern for the man in front of him. Jared continued his path along Jensen’s legs studiously avoiding his private areas but effectively and competently cleansing all the abrasions and contusions, bandaging those that needed it. Jensen’s ankle seemed to just be sprained severely so Jared applied some topical cream against the pain and packed an ice pack into the bandage. 

“Jensen, what happened to you? I will have to call in a doctor and the police I think. Were you…?” “No….. please… no doctor, no police.” Jensen whispered pleadingly, his heart rate picking up with anxiety rolling off of the man in waves. Jared picked up on it immediately. “Shhh…. It’s okay Jensen, it’s okay no police no doctor until you’re ready. Relax, you are safe with me, I promise you.” Jared said opting for his most comforting and soothing tone that he could muster in the face of his own unease at seeing how hurt the man was. He rubbed gentle circles on Jensen’s shoulder and felt the man calm down and relax under his touch. “Jensen, listen I will bring you a wash cloth and some warm water so you can clean yourself around your rear and your private area. I’ll be back in a few minutes okay?” Jared said, slowly pushing up from the kneeling position he’d been in to clean the wounds. Jensen’s hand flew out and grabbed Jared’s wrist in a surprisingly steady grip. “Please…. stay.” Jensen rasped. “I’ll be right back, you will feel better once you’re all cleaned up, trust me Jensen, and I’ll be right back.” Slowly and gently peeling the desperate fingers off of his wrist Jared walked to the door of his room then jogged to the bathroom got a bucket of warm water, the softest wash cloth and towel he could find and made his way back to Jensen. 

When he got there Jensen was resting on his side, eyes closed, looking almost peaceful for the first time since he’d found him. Tapping gently with his finger tips on Jensen’s shoulders, Jared roused the other man from his slumber. “Come on Jensen, let’s get you cleaned up and I promise you can sleep as long as you like after that. Can you do this yourself?” he enquired, not feeling exactly comfortable with this kind of intimacy with a complete stranger and knowing how he’d feel if the situation were reversed. Jensen showed Jared his right wrist which clearly wasn’t up to any kind of task requiring dexterity, the joint was swollen severely. “Can you feel this Jensen?” Jared enquired as he softly grasped Jensen’s fingers one by one to check for sensation in each. Jensen nodded in affirmation. Okay I’m going to put some cream on this and bandage it up and then get an ice pack to bring the swelling down. He didn’t waste any time and got it done, laying Jensen’s hand back down once he was happy with it.”You keep that right there, how’s your other hand?” Jensen waved his other hand at Jared weakly but clearly lacking full motor control over it. “Trust you...” Jensen whispered simply, his green eyes tired. “Ok Jensen, I’ll be gentle and if anything hurts raise your good hand and I’ll stop immediately. Just as he’d done with the bandages and cleansing of Jensen’s wounds, Jared shifted his plaid shirt to free up his rear. 

“No here first .... please.”Jensen indicated towards his crotch. “Mm.... okay.” Jared gasped when he saw Jensen’s very hard length underneath the layer of flannel and then realized why it was hard, when he saw a silver ring tightly wrapped around its base. “What the hell? Who did this to you Jensen.” Jared exclaimed. Jensen turned beet red from the tip of his ears down to his chest. Under extremely opposite circumstances it would have been adorable, as it was Jared just wanted that reaction to go away and for Jensen to be comfortable. “Ok, let me get this off of you okay?” Jensen nodded in affirmation, the movement barely noticeable but there. Jared grabbed the silver clasp as gently as he could and undid it, the skin underneath the metal ring was an angry red colour like sunburn with tiny blisters forming. Biting his tongue, Jared moved the offending cock ring aside making sure it wasn’t anywhere near Jensen visually or physically. He then took the washcloth, wetted it and methodically cleaned the man’s crotch and surrounding area, it can’t have been pleasant to have bits of branches, moss and dirt down there. He applied topical wound cream where needed. Once he was satisfied he got it all, he proceeded to Jensen’s butt and cleaned the area in the same methodical manner. He was certain that he was cleaning come, blood and some other fluid, lube maybe from Jensen’s butt cheeks and could see some of it leaking out still. He gently brushed the cloth in between Jensen’s cheeks and across his perineum and up across his crack to pick up as much of the come and grime as he could. 

“Ok Jensen, you’re as clean as you’re going to get. You stay right where you are and I’ll pull down the covers on the other side of the bed and then you can either shift over or I’ll lift you over to the other side of the bed, so you can get some sleep.” Jared instructed but Jensen was dead to the world breathing evenly, snoring lightly, obviously having fallen asleep already. Jared pulled down the sheet and comforter on the other side of the bed, grasped Jensen as gently as he could and lifted him around the bed and over to the other side, where he settled him down on his good side. While holding Jensen up the man leaned into Jared in his sleep and whimpered slightly when Jared put him down on the bed. Once Jensen was tucked in and comfortable, Jared pulled off the bed spread that now clearly needed a wash and put it in his laundry basket in the corner of the room. He then walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out a clean pair of boxers, socks, sweat pants and a t-shirt and hoodie for Jensen putting the clothes on the far side of the bed so Jensen would see them should he wake up when Jared wasn’t in the room. He also left a bottle of water and a bunch of protein bars on the bedside table.

He also left Jensen a note that he was going to be back in a few hours, as he didn’t want to leave his backpack with a cooler full of wildlife food in the forest. It would be gone and ripped to shreds very quickly and he was kind of partial to that cooler. Before he walked out he also called Samantha and told her a somewhat modified story of what happened but stating that the wolf had escaped and she needed however to possibly replenish some of her supplies and he’d let her know what was salvageable in the vet room. 

He emptied out the raw meat in the forest, where his backpack was, certain that some wildlife would pick it up in no time but it had not been refrigerated sufficiently to still be useful for human consumption. He had the feeling that he was being watched but despite his sharp observation skills never managed to figure out who was watching but did notice a few bushes rustling here and there. Also he wasn’t keen on encountering whoever attacked Jensen and left him in the state he was in. His rifle in hand he swiftly made his way back to the cabin. 

He checked in on Jensen upon his return and noticed that the boxers were gone from the pile of clothing and the water had been drunk from, relief spread in Jared at that. Right now however Jensen was curled in on himself wrapped up in the sheet and comforter sleeping deeply by the looks of it. Jared left him another note saying he’d be in the expansion, aka the door to the right of the bathroom door, if he needed anything and left the bedroom closing the door quietly behind himself. 

The vet room was a complete mess but fortunately a lot of things just needed to be righted, there was however a significant amount of blood and Jared wasn’t convinced that it was all his wolf’s blood. Not to mention he still hadn’t found the wolf. Had the wolf mauled Jensen and left him there? Reverse bestiality? It didn’t add up in any way shape or form. He was squatting down to get a good grip on the vet table to put it upright again when he felt something cool and wet nudge his forearm. Looking down and over he saw his wolf sniffing him gingerly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Chapter 3 is in beta, chapters 4-6 in raw writing and to be reviewed.  
> If you guys see any continuity errors or things like that please let me know, constructive criticism helps improve my writing :)


	3. You are what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well thank you for reading this far.... yay there is mention of Misha in this chapter, lots of snuggles and some more understanding more weird reflections in mirrors. Enjoy :) In this chapter the pack dynamics are explained a bit further and there is no violence whatsoever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared for lots of relaxing and healing :) Jared doing research and Jensen following his nature in the best of ways.

The wolf nuzzled along Jared’s arm before trotting away from him towards the guest bedroom with a slight limp, clearly not favouring his one front leg and looking back frequently as if asking Jared to follow. Jared could see the wolf was injured, more badly so than the first time he’d found him. There were scratches and bruises marring his beautiful tawny coat, making the fur stand up in weird tufts here and there. What threw him was the empty bed in the guest room. 

The wolf trotted over to the mirror mounted on the back of the bathroom door and sat in front of it facing into the room towards Jared. Gasping when he looked at the wolf’s reflection Jared saw, in lieu of a furry back, the very human shoulders, neck and rear of Jensen, caramel coloured freckles spreading all across his shoulders and down the centre of his back angry blue and yellow bruises and tender looking scratches and abrasions all over the expanse of his skin. “So I wasn’t seeing things then.” Jared was taken aback at how much this realization hit him and went to sit down on the bed. “Are you.... wow this is hard to even say out loud.... are you a werewolf?” Jared asked hoping for a no, not sure he’d be able to handle an affirmative answer. Jared’s brain tried valiantly to come up with a different explanation but drew a complete blank. The wolf nodded its head up and down confirming Jared’s suspicion. Jared just sat there for a moment, his mind went straight back to the awesome bed-time stories his grandfather used to tell him about beasts that could turn into men and vice versa. He sat with his hands supporting his chin, staring at Jensen all the while. The wolf made his way over to Jared and leaned against his right leg, resting his head on Jared’s muscular thigh, prompting Jared to move one of his hands into the soft fur absentmindedly. Jared tried to steadfastly ignore seeing the human reflection of Jensen crawling over to him on all fours and closed his eyes. 

After letting Jared pet him for a bit, because let’s face it he liked the affection, it got to be too painful for Jensen to stay in that position and he gently nudged his snout at Jared’s stomach asking him without words to lay down on the bed. Jared leaned back a bit bracing himself on his arms and shimmied up as the wolf gently pawed at his shoulder, prompting him to move onto the bed proper and lie back. The wolf whined softly as the movement brought his attention to all of his injuries and reminded him just how hurt he was. Jared looked down at the wolf with worried hazel eyes having heard the pitiful whining sound in the back of the wolf’s throat. Jensen then curled up against Jared’s side, finding the nook that was just perfect under Jared’s arm with the wolf’s back flush against the length of Jared’s torso. The wolf’s legs flailed straight out and relaxed. A cautious hand curling over and cradling his wolf's head gently, careful not to cause any pain and in this position Jensen’s breathing evened out quickly and he fell asleep. Jared couldn’t help but relax in Jensen’s presence, he looked over at the wolf fondly and despite his thoughts going in circles he eventually nodded off his wolf by his side.

Jared woke up reeling from a nightmare, he had re-lived the scene of finding Jensen in the forest at first and then jumped forward to in front of his own cabin in the dreamscape. There was a big gray wolf attacking him and ripping him to shreds, the dream was so real, that upon waking he went to touch his thighs and shimmied to check his back to make sure there were no gouges like he had felt in the dream. He was bleeding out in his nightmare and it wasn’t a sensation he ever wanted to experience for real. The gray wolf had pounced on Jared in his dream while protecting a cowering Jensen, that Jared could just see with his dream-self’s eyes behind the looming wolf form that was trying to destroy him. The wolf was just about to go for the killing bite on his neck, when he woke up in cold sweat, his heartbeat going a mile a minute. 

He found himself squinting at his cell phone’s clock it was 4am in the morning and he remembered now that he and Jensen (werewolf!!!) had fallen asleep just after sunset. Turning his head he saw the wolf curled up and now facing him, soundly asleep, its muzzle and one front paw propped up on Jared’s thigh. The thought that this wolf contained a man was still a concept that was hard to grasp for Jared. 

Jensen snuffled and woke up turning his head to regard Jared in the dark. His eyes glowed just a tiny bit in the darkness of the room an emerald gleam that under other circumstances would have been scary. Jared petted Jensen’s head to soothe him and assure him he was okay, explaining: “Just a bad dream…I’m okay Jensen, go back to sleep.”

With the room still dark, Jared couldn’t see if the wolf’s injuries had improved or disappeared like they had when Jensen was first injured. He secretly hoped that they would be gone once Jensen got up. Even if that would only be the physical injuries whatever had attacked Jensen wasn’t friendly, he looked like he had been raped, clawed up good and surely there would be some trauma from that experience. It was at that, that Jared realized he didn’t really know anything about Jensen. Questions started building up like the worst inner-city traffic jam in Jared’s brain as he fully woke up.

Now that his brain was awake and thinking he stood no chance of falling back asleep again, no matter how tempting and soothing it felt to lie next to the big wolf he shared his bed with right then. His analytical mind wanted answers, rationalization, and clarity about what was going on and why things were happening. He slowly moved out from under the one paw and gently nudged the wolf’s head off also and got up. Jensen muttered quietly but didn’t wake again. Jared walked over to the bathroom and couldn’t help but catch a glimpse in the bathroom door mirror of Jensen’s broad shoulders, chest and his handsome face sleeping peacefully, his privates obscured rather sexily by the lightly draped blanket. 

Jared walked over to the vet room expansion to grab his laptop and while in there he suddenly felt eyes on him, that sense that makes the hair at your neck stand up. He turned towards the trashed window and found himself staring at a gray wolf illuminated only by the faint moonlight, its amber eyes boring into Jared’s as if in warning but it didn’t make any moves towards Jared and after a couple of minutes trotted away back into the forest. With absolute certainty Jared knew that this was the wolf from his dream earlier, which was extremely disconcerting, he would have to bring it up to Jensen when he was back in human form. God there was so much Jared wanted to ask him. 

He wandered over to the kitchen area, grabbed a glass of water and sat down with his laptop to start researching, his back facing the bedroom door that he just closed over but didn’t close entirely, wanting Jensen to be able to come out and join him should he want to in wolf or human form. Jared’s research went from page to page, one thing leading to another and after a couple of hours in his mind was working hard to process what he had learned. Apparently werewolves were a known thing in most countries with legislation in place to regulate and accommodate their needs and cultural differences with Canada being one of the few countries left where such legislation was still dragging behind a bit. He found a number of pack websites, which seemed to be like official sites representing were packs, for the public at large, not hiding at all but acting openly and in plain sight. 

There were three different sub-genders beyond females and males amongst werewolves; Alphas, Betas and Omegas. Alphas were the fighters, protectors and masters of the pack, physically strong, imposing and generally more aggressive than the other genders and natural born leaders. Of all the genders they were the most well-endowed in the case of male Alphas. Alphas gravitated towards mating Omegas above all, as they were biologically wired to do so, despite that primal instinct mating with other genders was becoming more common. Female alphas do exist but were rarer. Betas seemed to be the most human of the werewolves, their biology not as much of a factor as it was to Alphas and Omegas. There was an equal number of female and male Betas in the world and they were the most likely the leave the pack to live a human life. They tended to be level-headed and well-adjusted and made good spouses to an Alpha when said Alpha was a pack leader. Betas would be the strong mate to stand behind the pack Alpha with intelligence, pragmatism and generally very much able to take on any task. Female Betas could get pregnant, male Betas could not. 

Last but not least there were Omegas, probably the most unusual gender for a human to read about and fully understand. Both male and female Omegas could get pregnant and were therefore cherished and treated well in most packs, because they were the most fertile of all three genders and the wolves most likely to help keep the pack going by providing offspring. Omegas were biologically hard-wired to be maternal, caring, submissive and gravitated towards finding an Alpha to take care of them. Physically they tended to be petite, slim and least imposing physically to go with their nature. The number of female vs. male Omegas was staggering at 9:1, for every 9 females there was only one male Omega. Male Omegas tended to give birth to larger litters than females. Omegas were also said to be very tactile, in need of frequent physical contact from their pack mates and their Alpha in case of a mated Omega, more touchy-feely than a run-of-the-mill human in any case. Based on the various write-ups Jared found Omegas endured what was called heats on a regular basis starting on or around their 16th birthday and then every two months until their fertile years end at about 45 years of age. They would be desperate and needy during that time, giving off alluring scent that was desirable for other wolves both Alphas and Betas alike, the company of an Alpha was what would help them the most to make it through their cycle. Why that was the case Jared couldn’t figure out, none of the articles elaborated on that detail. 

The biggest take-away for Jared thus far was that weres seemed to be quite affected by their biology and didn’t always have the luxury of doing whatever they consciously wanted. It was an aspect he didn’t really appreciate, given his own up-bringing the thought of not being able to get away from it would have been hell for him.

Jared wondered which kind of wolf Jensen was and from what he’d seen he figured he could be any one of the three, seeing as Jensen was built, muscular, tall and not exactly submissive but very tactile. Not having talked much to Jensen he didn’t have a good read on his personality yet. 

The pack he assumed Jensen was from was the Red River pack that has resided in the Manning Park area for over a hundred years. He pieced that together from various dubious reports of werewolf lore websites, presumably run by people who were somewhat obsessed with the subject matter. The pack certainly didn’t have a fancy website like the San Francisco Bay Pack in California for example. Based on how many different wolves he himself had catalogued over the years as a park ranger, Jared knew the pack would have to be at least 20 wolves strong. A pack was always led by an Alpha and his mate, who would either be Beta or Omega. Alpha and Alpha mating usually meant that one would be converted to Beta or Omega in the process. He also learned that it was very rare for a wolf to leave its pack, it being the wolf’s family, protective community and safe haven for the duration of its life. 

Lastly Jared engrossed himself in the subject matter of mates and mating among werewolves. He learned that when werewolves mated they mated for life and if they were so-called true mates they would feel an immediate physical attraction and ultimately a mental connection that they couldn’t resist, the more time they spent together. It was a very romantic idea Jared thought, something he would never buy into, having been hurt too many times to count when he trusted others with his heart and his love. The mating of two wolves required knotting and a claiming bite. When searching the web for claiming bites, he was greeted with a litany of bared neck pictures with bites on them, some obviously fake but some looking surprisingly real. A search for knotting brought up a whole bunch of rope knots and very little actual factual information to do with werewolves but he figured the info he found about a wolf’s bulbus glandis was likely what knotting referred and why it was called that. The idea of having intercourse with someone and having a knot in one’s rear or vagina sounded painful to Jared. Yet more questions for Jensen he thought to himself if he ever got the guts to ask them. Jared realized that he hadn’t seen anything unusual about Jensen’s penis when he’d cleaned him the other day, definitely not something that looked like a knot, he looked human to Jared but then Jensen was a werewolf so who knew. 

When closing down that last search window he saw Jensen standing in the doorway naked as the day he was born, reflected on his laptop’s monitor. Feeling like a kid caught with his hand in a candy jar, he flipped his laptop closed and hunched his shoulders a bit, felt heat seep up on his cheeks with embarrassment. He heard the clacking of wolf claws on the floor at first but after a swooshey sound, he heard the soft padding of human feet and then a gentle yet very bruised hand came to rest on Jared’s right shoulder. He looked at it and winced at how painful it looked and without thinking moved his head to press gentle kisses to the bruises that littered the manly yet elegant long-fingered hand. This was something his mother always used to do when he was a kid, to make any scrape better, you had it kissed better. Realizing what he’d just done just added to the red that had taken over his skin’s pallor. “Don’t hunch Jared, it’s bad for your posture…” came Jensen’s voice raspy but with a whiskey deep tone to it as he gently started rubbing the younger man’s shoulders, pulling back just a little bit to get him to sit upright. He then proceeded to cup Jared’s cheek and lifted his head up and back to rest on his abs and chest when he came to stand behind Jared who was sat on a kitchen chair. 

Jared leaned into the touch and felt relaxed almost instantaneously, his shoulders sinking and his breath evening out. Jensen ran his fingers softly through Jared’s long chestnut hair, rubbing his scalp lightly as he did so. They stayed like this for a minute or so when Jensen got a bit restless, he wasn’t all healed up yet and standing like that slightly leaning forward wasn’t helping. “Do you mind if I sit down?” Jensen asked hopefully. “Oh yes, of course, let’s go sit on the couch, way more comfy than these kitchen chairs.” Jared replied practically, motioning over to the couch with his hand. Jensen kept his hand on Jared’s cheek just a little bit longer and the lingering touch did all sorts of funny things to Jared all of them positive. “I’ll just go and put some clothes on.” Jensen said walking. Trying hard not to stare at the firm butt walking away into the guest bedroom, Jared took his usual seat on the far left of the couch. 

Walking back into the living room, Jensen cocked an eyebrow at Jared when the younger man laughed out loud. “What? Am I missing something?” Jensen asked quizzically. “You know you don’t have to turn each piece of clothing inside out before putting it on.” Jared said. “Oh, I’m sorry…. I’m not used to wearing clothes like this.” Jensen not wanting to leave the situation uncorrected proceeded to slowly pull the shirt off his torso only to stop when the pain in his wrist got so bad he had to stop. “No, no, no Jensen please don’t worry about it, I was just teasing. It’s fine, please don’t hurt yourself, you’re fine.” Jared said but got up to help. Jared gently pulled the shirt that was already half off Jensen up over the other’s head, folded it the right way around and slowly pulled it back down over Jensen’s upper body, appreciating the hard muscle said torso was made up of but wincing silently when he saw all the scrapes, bites and bruises. They left the pants alone for the time being and Jared re-took his seat on the couch, flopping down his one arm along the back of the couch, one leg folded under himself and the other leg nearest the arm rest on the floor. 

Jensen stood for a moment, unsure of where to sit and how close to Jared. What he wanted to do was curl up against Jared, resting his head in the younger man’s lap, but he knew humans didn’t do such touches and proximity with nearly complete strangers, Misha had explained that to him before he’d left. Restraining that impulse, he sat nearly ram-rod straight in the center of the couch, kind of close, Jared’s knee touching his thigh just a smidgen. Sitting as upright as he was, made him wince, he did so as quietly as he could but noticed that Jared picked up on it right away. His butt was still on fire and he continued to whimper looking over at Jared with wide eyes. If Jared was a wolf he’d have his arms around him protectively and would be taking care of him, like a pack would. But given that Jared was human, he wouldn’t know any of that, wouldn’t know that a pack would gather around any one of their wounded physically, huddling in wolf form. Jensen watched Jared grab the throw pillow he’d set on the coffee table before he had sat down and saw him place it perfectly into gap between his legs. Jensen followed Jared’s movements closely and eyed the spot in the younger man’s lap longingly. 

Jared’s brain was drawing from all the werewolf information it had been fed with and came down to the final question, was Jensen an Omega? But he was too tall, too muscular to be an Omega, they were supposed to be smaller. What was with the shiny puppy-dog green eyes looking at him, all but trying to convey something Jared couldn’t quite pinpoint. Pragmatism however made him realize that sitting on his butt would likely be agony, given just how sore he’d looked when Jared found him in the forest. In order to make sure he wasn’t sending the wrong signals he bedded the throw pillow in his lap to create a barrier between his groin and hopefully where Jensen would trust him enough to rest his head. Wanting to be respectful of Jensen’s personal space but really not knowing what the protocol was in a situation like this, he decided to just come out and ask: “Are you… hkm… (clearing his throat as his voice wasn’t working just right)…, I’ve done some research while you slept, are you an Omega?” Jensen’s eyes widened and having seen all those claiming bite pics and the wiki entry on a wolf’s knot on Jared’s computer, he figured he’d read up on other aspects of what werewolves were prior to that. Nodding his head in answer, he hoped Jared had read up on other characteristics of Omegas. “Do you want to lie down? It’s probably more comfortable than sitting upright, given your injuries.” Jared stated matter-of-factly, gesturing to the pillow in his lap. 

Jensen didn’t need to be offered twice and the Omega in him preened at the offer of affection and proximity to his human. Even if Jensen’s brain wasn’t fully accepting the fact yet, his Omega knew just how right it felt to have been curled up against this man last night. He carefully leaned down and let his head come to rest on the pillow in between Jared’s basket of long and strong legs, folding his own legs on the couch. 

Jared sat there one arm on the arm rest, the other on the back of couch, not sure what to do next or whether to touch. If this were a date or watching a movie with a girlfriend he’d place his hand on her shoulder but he wasn’t sure what to do. Weak but sure fingers took his indecisiveness away from him by grasping the hand on the back of the couch, pulling it down and across Jensen’s shoulders, with that permission Jared’s other hand found its way into Jensen’s dark blond hair which stood out in all directions and he slowly ran his hand through it in a soothing and comforting gesture. Jensen moved his head just a fraction, moving into the ministrations and if he didn’t know any better Jared swore he heard the other man purr in contentment. It made Jared happy to feel Jensen relax, the muscles on his shoulders and back slowly releasing all tension with Jensen, his wolf, leaning into him completely for comfort, exuding a trust that he wasn’t sure he deserved. 

Jensen’s Omega was ecstatic, kept urging Jensen for even more contact but he gently quieted his nature down and enjoyed the soft touches Jared was giving him, reveling in them for as long as he could, feeling more at home and safer than he had in a long time. Jared ran his fingers in soft circles all around Jensen’s shoulders and back, continuing on down his torso careful not to apply any pressure to the vivid blue and yellow bruises that still littered Jensen’s body. He wanted so badly to know what had happened to this beautiful man out there in the forest and he had a million questions about werewolves on top of that. But his questions could wait, seeing how calm Jensen was right this second was enough for Jared and he wanted to keep him safe and protected. 

Had Jared turned his head to the big living room windows just then he would have seen the gray wolf with the amber eyes, nodding in quiet satisfaction before dropping away back into the forest. As it was Jared didn’t see him as he had picked up his book from the coffee table to read while continuing to pet Jensen gently. 

Jensen found himself falling into a light slumber as the gentle scalp scratches and Jared’s petting continued, feeling safe and secure in the younger man’s presence. He tried to stay awake, to be ready for the questions Jared undoubtedly had but when the other man stayed quiet he took that as his leave to relax completely. Jensen’s body was still not fully healed and it was normal for a werewolf to sleep nearly 24 hours a day in the case of major injuries such as the ones he’d sustained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm up to chapter 6 already in rough draft, will release next chapters in the week of June 19, got out of town visitors this weekend.


	4. Let me explain a few things.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapters Jensen gives Jared a run down on werewolf dynamics and goes into much detail on how Alpha/Omega dynamics work and Misha is mentioned in this chapter for the first time. Jared's absorbing the information with gusto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait but I am a bit of a perfectionist and want to beta things properly before posting. Enjoy!

Jared jumped at a soft thump, he’d dropped his book on the floor after his hands went lax his eyes opening up to see the wood panels of the cabin’s ceiling. Rotating his head on his shoulders to stretch his neck, he found Jensen fast asleep with his head cradled in Jared’s lap, his right arm curled up and his still bandaged wrist resting flatly on Jared’s thigh. Jensen was handsome to look at, creamy white skin, with freckles just about everywhere, his hair that looked rough and spiky was surprisingly silky and soft. His body spoke of athleticism and he could see the muscle definition everywhere, a fighter’s physique is what came to Jared’s mind, strong and lean with a good set of broad shoulders. But what really made Jared look Jensen over in that much detail was that the bites, bruises and contusions were all but gone… similarly the scrapes and scratches on Jensen’s face had given way to unblemished skin with a good two-days’ worth of dark blond gingery stubble around his strong jaw-line in an adorably messy way. His lips were full, with an almost feminine cupid’s bow and a healthy pinkish colour, slightly apart, showing the gleam of beautiful white even teeth.

Jared wanted to check on Jensen’s wrist and slowly went to work on removing the bandages and the splint, the skin underneath was warm and slightly clammy from having been wrapped up for so long but the joint looked healthy. Jensen whimpered softly in his sleep but didn’t wake up, Jared soothed him, rubbing gently down the nape of Jensen’s neck with his hand coming to rest square in between Jensen’s shoulder blades where his fingers drew random shapes on the warm unbroken skin. Jared face-palmed himself mentally for not reading into healing capabilities of werewolves, as clearly there was a difference there between how fast a human could heal versus a werewolf. Sleep seemed to be paramount for healing to happen he figured, when he realized just how much sleep Jensen had had since staying with him. He felt the older man push back into his hand, still asleep but clearly enjoying the affection Jared was providing. Jared brought his other hand back to Jensen’s hair and gently let his fingers trace down his temple and along his jaw line and just as Jensen did with the hand on his back he felt his head move into the touch. 

Jared enjoyed giving the other man comfort and realized his body enjoyed it as well and he was rather thankful for the pillow that separated the attractive man from his crotch, where his sweat pants were under no small amount of tension. It so was not the right time for this, Jared thought. 

It was just then that his stomach decided to rumble, Jared held still hoping he wouldn’t wake Jensen up, looking down at his face. Jared’s palm still cupping Jensen’s cheek he saw the long lashes shiver and the pupils moving underneath still-closed eyelids and moments after two emerald orbs looked up at Jared lazily and happily. If a look could convey trust and love, the one Jensen gave Jared did just that and it sent shivers up Jared’s spine and made him nervous and anxious all at once. Nobody had ever looked at Jared like that. Jensen sensed the change in his human right away and reached up with his left hand touching Jared’s face much the same way as Jared had just done to him, in an attempt to try and quiet down his Alpha, to try and wipe the anxiety of his face. The thought troubled Jensen, since Jared was neither Alpha nor even the same species as he, yet his Omega provided the title nonetheless. He decided to file that thought away until later and focused on sending calming vibes to the human who suddenly seemed afraid and uncomfortable.

“What is it Jared? Are you okay?” he asked, his voice finally sounding more like his own again a mix of Johnny Cash, whiskey and the warmth of honey. “I… I’m hungry I guess... “ Jared replied awkwardly. “And…. I’m not very good at this being close to people thing.” He added on much more quietly. Jared saw a tiny bit of sadness creep into Jensen’s eyes, the thought that anyone could have issues being physically close to people hurt his wolf and above all his Omega, even though it was not his own pain. “Thank you for letting me stay close, it has really helped me a great deal. Wolves heal faster with sleep and when in physical contact with their pack or mate.” Jensen said without thinking the statement through. Jared rolled the statement around in his mind and confusion spread on his face. “I’m pack to you?” he enquired. Now it was Jensen’s turn to blush, he hadn’t meant to say such a thing and was still too tired to have thought through the implications of what he had just said. 

“Well I guess you kind of are.” He answered as generically as he could, glad that Jared hadn’t insisted on clarifying the mate part of his earlier statement. “Okay I’m going to cook us up some food and you’re going to tell me your story, starting at the beginning of how you came to be near road-kill a few days ago.” Jared half commanded and suggested hopefully and slowly unfolded himself up from under Jensen and got up. “You’ve got a deal. No raw meat though please.” Jensen answered with a smirk and fluffed up the throw-pillow under his head staying exactly where he was, watching Jared go about the open kitchen area that he could see perfectly from his vantage point on the couch. 

“Is there anything you don’t like?” Jared asked. “Nope I’m good with anything, cheese burgers are probably my favourite I would say.” Jensen answered. “We never had cheese on pack lands but I remember having it when we would visit nearby towns.” “Huh… okay I can work with that.” Jared replied, the anxiety fading from his facial expression. The two men spent the next few minutes silently observing one another, bantering back and forth comfortably. About 30 minutes later Jared walked back over to the couch with two plates, each of them piled high with a vertically huge burger and a side of baked fries with the ketchup bottle squished between his chest and bicep on account of his hands being full of plates. “Here you go, Jared style cheese burgers with all the fixings.” He announced with a blinding smile. Jensen could feel himself salivating at the prospect and when he saw Jared’s smile and pride over the food he’d prepared his breath stuttered a bit and it took quite some effort to keep his hands steady as he reached out for the steaming plate of food. 

It was only now that Jensen realized just how starved he felt. Now that most of the healing had been done, his body was ready for some fuel. Jared watched him dig in, an amused expression on his face. “Don’t forget to chew your food. Anything to drink beer, pop or water?” he said smiling down at Jensen. Jensen turned his face up, had the wherewithal to blush just a little bit, realizing he’d dug into his food before his host and whom he considered his Alpha had even sat down. “Water please.” he answered meekly with ketchup at the corner of his mouth, food in his mouth mid-chew. Before Jared turned to grab the drinks, he leaned down and forward rubbing his thumb over the corner of Jensen’s mouth to remove the dollop of ketchup collected there and swiftly brought his thumb up to his own mouth licking off the tomato goo without thinking anything of it. Jensen just sat staring, feeling things happening in his groin. He wondered if Jared was aware of how sexy that just was. What Jensen couldn’t see was Jared’s slight blush but satisfied small grin playing around his lips at what he’d just done when he turned to get Jensen’s water. 

Just as much as Jared had analyzed Jensen’s physique, he did the same now as he watched the taller man walk back over to the fridge. He was really tall Jensen realized, a good 3 inches taller than himself, likely a few years younger and he was all wide shoulders and narrow waist with muscled legs that showed just a bit in the sweat pants he wore, the t-shirt that sat across his back showed off the strong dips and peaks of his well-trained back, especially when he bent over to grab a bottle of water and beer out of the fridge. Realizing what he was doing, Jensen averted his eyes just in time, or so he thought, to his plate of food and took another big bite out of the heavenly burger. He felt the couch dip when Jared sat down and saw the tall man fold his body down into a sitting position out of the corner of his eye, as he continued to inhale his burger. 

“Makes me happy to see you have an appetite, means you’re doing better I guess?” Jared commented eventually, while he placed the bottle of water next to Jensen’s thigh on the couch. Smiling over at him, crinkles appearing at the corners of his green eyes, Jensen beamed at Jared. An expression very much reflecting the glee his Omega experienced just then. Even if Jared was no Alpha he’d been saying the right things, the things a caring Alpha would say to an Omega and doing the right things to take care of an Omega. Jensen realized that he only had about 5 fries left while Jared’s plate was still almost entirely full. “Well since you’ve inhaled your food.....” you could start talking. But Jared didn’t finish the sentence, not really knowing how to say it without sounding rude. “You’re going to share yours with me?” Jensen quipped, finishing Jared’s incomplete sentence. “Uh …. Nope I don’t think so. Remember it was my tummy that even alerted us to not having eaten for an eternity.” Jared replied with no heat. 

“Is there more in the kitchen?” Jensen asked hopefully. “No sorry just made the two plates worth but if you’re still hungry, there is apple pie in the fridge.” Jared answered. If he thought Jensen’s smile was brilliant earlier, he wasn’t prepared for the full-wattage smile coupled with glowing green eyes mixed with love and appreciation that was thrown his way now. “Did you say there is pie?” Jensen asked incredulously. “Yeah, Sam makes them and brings me one every two weeks.” Jared chuckles when he sees Jensen abandon his plate of 5 fries and walk to the fridge, grabbing a spoon from the dish rack on the way and sits himself back down with the pie in one hand, spoon in the other. As Jensen returns with the pie and spoon in hand, he remembers that this is not his own home and he just helped himself to food that wasn’t his in the first place. He can feel his face go a deep shade of red when he asks: “Can I have some pie, please?” and looks at Jared almost bashfully.... almost. 

Jared all out laughs when he sees the adorable blush on Jensen’s face and is looked at through thick lashes by Jensen who for all intents and purposes looks like a small boy right that second, caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Yes you can have some pie.” Jared answers. When Jensen appears to be starting to eat the pie as is from its pie shell with the spoon, just like that, Jared enquires jokingly: “Erm… would you like two cans of whipped cream with that?” “You’ve got whipped cream too???” Jensen exclaims. “No I’m just joking, usually people take a slice of pie not the whole thing. Leave me some will you?” Jared says, then starts to eat his own food with more gusto, not wanting to miss out on having pie. Jensen puts the first spoonful in his mouth and makes near orgasmic sounds of appreciation, prompting Jared to look over and smirk when he realizes what is going on. “That good is it?” Jared quips. Jensen grins and nods his head eagerly. “Do you guys not have pie? I mean in your pack, how do you guys live? Do you have appliances? Houses?” Jared can’t stop the flow of questions. It is his nature to want to understand things, why they were the way they were and he got comfort out of understanding. Jensen raised his spoon hand to signal ‘give me a moment I’m chewing’ and once he’d swallowed that morsel of pie, he set it down on the coffee table, spoon stuck in it. 

“Okay, no we don’t have pie, it’s a human thing to bake, and we don’t really do it. The pack lives in caves and naturally occurring cabins so to speak, we try and be one with the land and since we’re not mainstreaming we need to be camouflaged pretty well. We don’t have electricity so no appliances.” Jared mulled all that over in head and would have had a hard time believing it, if Jensen’s face, tone and eyes weren’t so full of open honesty and sincerity. “Wow I had an idea that there was something more to the wolves around here…. But I would’ve never guessed.” He mused. “What do you mean by mainstreaming? Are you referring to packs that live out in the open?” Jared asked for clarification. “There are many packs now probably about 70% of all werewolves in North America live in what you call mainstreaming packs, where they live among humans, hold down jobs, have a mortgage and don’t live sheltered from humans. Most communities where these packs reside are aware of werewolves and unlike Canada there is legislation in the US that deals with the werewolves existence.“ Jensen explained. “My pack is not inclined to mainstream in any way even if and when legislation comes through.” 

“So how come you ended up by that road?” Jared pursued his line of questioning, which is what he called it in his head. “That takes a bit of a long explanation for you to understand fully.” Jensen said and snuck in another bite of pie just then and once he’d swallowed he went on to explain first about the different types of wolves there were, basically what Jared had read was spot-on in most aspects. Except that in Jensen’s pack the Omegas had zero choice in terms of mate unless they found their true mate, they were there for breeding and furthering the pack’s lineage. He also explained that there had only been one other Omega in the pack up until about a year ago and she died at a very young age due to having been bred too much. Jensen’s eyes went glossy as he talked about her, explaining that basically every Alpha got his turn over the years and an Omega was not wired to be mated or knotted by multiple Alphas for prolonged periods of time. It physically made her sick and killed her in the end. He explained that just complete lack of physical affection or the wrong kind of physical affection and contact could also bring along an early death for an Omega. The reason Jensen hadn’t suffered the same fate was thanks to his friend Misha, who protected Jensen all these years but the pack Alpha’s patience had finally run out. He also wasn’t the typical Omega when it came to his physical appearance, what with being a strong and tall male who would pass for an Alpha or Beta any day if it weren’t for his biology. Jared learned that Jensen had been slated to be mated to an Alpha who sounded like a vile and brutal creature, not someone worthy of a guy like Jensen, but the only one who would take him as a mate. The pack wanted to avoid what happened to the previous Omega but not for the Omega’s sake. Jared wanted to clarify the term true mate but Jensen was on a roll so he kept mum and continued listening attentively. 

Jensen continued to explain how his friend Misha Collins had helped him get away and off the pack lands which were about 20 miles away from Jared’s cabin. Once beyond the pack land border the wolves couldn’t or shouldn’t attack him anymore and he was a free person. It also meant by leaving behind his pack like that and rejecting the Alpha chosen for him, the pack had no choice but to exile him and he would not be welcome back no matter the circumstances. Jared also learned that the Alpha Jensen was to be with was a widower and only agreed to mate and breed Jensen for the sake of furthering the pack’s lineage because of Jensen’s physical prowess, strength and the fact that he’d likely produce high quality and quantity litters. It would have been a union that could well have resulted in an early death for Jensen after a few litters as the Alpha in question was not known for showing affection or much regard for his mate’s wellbeing. Omegas Jensen explained weren’t just tactile but needed the love, trust and certain physical aspects of a proper Alpha mate in the absence of their true mate. He’d seen it happen once in his life where an Omega all but withered and died because her Alpha stopped touching her and kept her confined to their cave, that same Alpha was actually put to death as much as Alphas had control over an Omega, they were obligated to take care of their Omegas. Jensen’s eyes went misty with tears as he told the story. 

Jared couldn’t believe what he was hearing, although he did know a thing or two about non-affectionate partners himself, so he joined Jensen in crying over an Omega he had never even met. He wrapped his long arms around Jensen, while the older man shook with the sobs that vibrated through his shoulders and tried to soothe him running his fingers gently up and down Jensen’s back. “You’re safe here Jensen, you know that right? Jared said quietly but with unwavering certainty. You’ll never be that Omega, you’ll never have to be with that Alpha. I’ll make sure of that.” He continued. Jensen took great comfort in those words, even though he knew his human wouldn’t stand a chance defending him from an Alpha werewolf, unless he became were himself. “Thank you for saying that Jared but if I stay here I put you in danger. With me being the only Omega in my former pack I’m not sure they won’t come for me unless I can evidence having found my true mate, which would negate their right to me.” Jensen said matter-of-factly, feeling pride at putting the word former in front of the word pack. 

“My friend Misha tries to keep me safe even while I’m here but he can’t be around all the time. He has a mate and pup to take care of.” Jensen continued to explain how strong Alphas were and it matched what Jared had read about them. Even in human form they were twice as strong as most human males, more agile and had better even if less colour-vibrant vision. “What colour wolf is that Alpha you were to be mated with?” Jared asked, trying to put some puzzle pieces together. “Why do you ask? Have you seen a wolf?” Jensen asked fear taking hold deep in his belly. “No, no but dreamt about a gray wolf with amber eyes, it seemed too real to just be a dream and I swear I saw a wolf just like that outside the cabin the other day.” Jared explained. “In my dream he had positioned himself between you and me, and he’d attacked me to defend you, keep you safe from me.” Wounding me mortally, was what Jared didn’t say out loud. Jensen’s eyes went wide as he figured out just who Jared was talking about. “That wolf you saw… that is Misha. He must have followed me after you picked me up in the forest the second time around. I scented him there before you carried me away and like I said he checks in on me regularly.” Jensen explained. “I should introduce you to each other, he’s very protective of me.” Jensen went on to explain that Misha was a friend of his since childhood, an Alpha, not his Alpha he made sure to specify and he had no doubt in his mind that he would rip Jared to shreds if the younger man tried to hurt Jensen in any way. Jared noticed how Jensen’s eyes lit up when he spoke of his friend Misha, clearly the man meant a lot to Jensen and Jared was quite keen to meet him actually, his analytical brain already putting together a list of questions for the Alpha.

Jensen continued with his story explaining to Jared what had happened that day when Jared found him in his human form in the forest. The Alpha, Alistair who he was promised to was a proud son of a bitch and wouldn’t take the shame of being rejected by a lowly Omega so decided to pay him a visit, he’d followed Misha to Jared’s cabin or so Jensen assumed. Broken in through the window and Jensen got away out of the room through that same break in the window running into the forest but ultimately the Alpha caught up to him and forced Jensen to shift into human form using his Alpha voice. A register of voice that no Omega could withstand and affected every Omega mated or not on a biological level. Jensen explained that an Alpha could make an unmated Omega do nearly anything he or she wanted by employing that voice and if mated to the Alpha there were no limits whatsoever. Jared’s eyebrows rose almost comically at learning about such a thing as an Alpha voice. The Alpha then took what was supposed to be his, knotted Jensen almost completely and then pulled out just before they were tied to avoid mateship and scratched Jensen up good, leaving him there to die, pulling his knot out nearly fully expanded. Being as injured as he was Jensen didn’t have the energy to shift into his wolf form, which would have helped him stay warm and heal faster, not being able to shift in those circumstances was a death sentence given the near zero degree temperatures this time of year at night and the fact that Jensen was completely unclothed and unable to even drag himself to safety. 

Jared had gone white as a sheet when Jensen, clearly not ashamed of talking about such things openly, described the knotting. Jensen explained quickly that Omegas were built to take a knot but that it was to be left in there until it had fully deflated. What the Alpha had done hurt both Jensen and the Alpha but in terms of werewolf rules and traditions, he had sullied Jensen for any other Alpha. Once one Alpha had had access to an Omega’s channel but didn’t claim him that was a strike against the Omega by default and this was something that didn’t differ from pack to pack that was just how it was. And the scent of that Alpha would linger until the Omega was mated after which time the mate’s scent would take over.

“Well among humans this really doesn’t matter, so I’m glad to say I’m not a werewolf or an alpha.” Jared said, opening his mouth before thinking things through. The Omega smiled against Jared’s neck, he’d unconsciously snuggled up to the taller man on the couch while he talked, resting his head on Jared’s shoulder, his face nuzzling the crook of his neck. “Well.. uhm… I mean… if we were to go in that direction. If you wanted to.” Jared said blushing adorably. Jensen didn’t reply but moved in for a soft and sensual kiss, wrapping his sensuous lips around Jared’s thinner and very masculine pout with all he had. 

Jared’s scent was marvellous to Jensen, his scent was like cinnamon, freshly cut grass and a hint of citrus all mingled harmoniously together in perfection. Jensen wondered idly if Jared could scent him at all, not knowing how astute a human nose was. Jared leaned into the kiss, realizing just how much he’d been wanting to kiss those beautiful lips of Jensen’s ever since he first laid eyes on them. He heard Jensen take a deep inhale through his nose as if trying to sniff Jared when he’d left Jared’s lips and proceeded to kiss Jared lightly down the column of his neck. Jared returned the gesture in kind and found Jensen all but baring his neck to him for better access, while he gently kissed Jensen from temple to collarbone and everywhere in between coming back to Jensen’s beautiful lips. 

Nibbling gently as he went along, letting his hands roam gently over Jensen’s arms and down his back and noticing with a glance down that both their bodies seemed to agree with what their faces and hands were doing. Jared pushed forward firmly and brought Jensen to lie down on his back on the couch, Jensen’s head leaning up slightly on the armrest, warm, trusting green eyes looking up at Jared intently. Jared, slid up Jensen’s shirt and proceeded to explore the dips and valleys of Jensen’s abs and chest, letting his hands roam up to the well defined pecs until his fingers found Jensen’s nipples and he rubbed them between his lightly calloused finger tips until they were hard little nubs, causing Jensen to arch up into Jared’s touch beautifully. “You are gorgeous, you know that right?” Jared asked as he continued his exploration, running his hand lovingly up Jensen’s neck and the stubble on his angular jaw. Jensen leaned into the touch turning his head to the side, exposing his neck once more in a submissive gesture to his alpha, his body’s way of saying claim me, bite me, and mate me. Jared thought Jensen looked gorgeous but the meaning of the gesture was lost on him.

Jared moved one of his legs in between Jensen’s, with his knee and thigh rubbing Jensen the right way and he felt the other’s hard length against his leg, his other leg braced against the back of the couch between Jensen’s thigh and the back of the couch. “God, you’re so sensitive, so responsive.” Jared marvelled, when he continued rubbing Jensen’s little nubs, running his hands through Jensen’s hair, pulling Jensen into a kiss by flexing his fingers in the silken strands. The words washed over Jensen, bringing his body’s attention right down to his crotch. “Feels so good Alph… Jared.” Jensen moaned huskily, catching himself. And that small Freudian slip brought an abrupt stop to everything. “How dare you call me that Jensen?!” Jared exclaimed, bringing painful distance between himself and Jensen by shooting up from the couch to start pacing the room. 

“After what you’ve told me about the Alphas in your pack, how can you even use that term in connection with me? What is wrong with you?” Jared asked anger, disappointment, fear and worry clearly written all over his face. “Jared…. please calm down. You don’t understand.” Jensen tried to get his brain to work after he’d been in love-making head space just mere seconds before, slick already starting to form at his entrance. “Weres are not like humans, at least Alphas and Omegas aren’t. We, Omegas, are biologically inclined and built to need an Alpha in our life. There are things only an Alpha can provide an Omega with.” Thinking he’d said too much he stopped talking abruptly, studiously looking at the ground instead of at Jared, worried about his response. 

“Continue, what can only an Alpha provide?!” Jared demanded, his voice laced with anger and disbelief at what Jensen had just said. “Go on, don’t hold out on me now.” He commanded, regretting the tone of his voice immediately when Jensen couldn’t help but flinch and audibly wince at how Jared was talking to him. “I’m sorry Jensen…. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have raised my voice. But… this is all a little much and there is so much I don’t know it’s thrown me for a loop to be honest.” Jared explained himself running nervous hands through his long chestnut brown hair. “Anatomically an Omega is made to take an Alpha and his or her knot as I mentioned before and unlike a human penis, it has a knot at its base that expands and gets caught in the Omega’s birthing channel so that none of the Alpha’s come can escape. It’s meant to ensure successful breeding. Similarly when an Omega goes into heat every two months, it is only being knotted and Alpha come that can alleviate the symptoms of the heat or getting pregnant.” Jensen laid it all out, he figured they’d gone this far. “An Alpha is obligated to take care of an Omega, home, sustenance, financial care and especially physical care; affection, love and making love. It is a relationship of complete and utter synergy when the right Alpha meets the right Omega a bond created when they mate through knotting and the claiming bite, just like you read on that computer of yours. If they are true mates that bond will be even stronger and the Alpha will be exceptionally protective of his/her Omega keeping the Omega safe and often the pair will develop the ability to communicate telepathically.” Jensen paused, watching Jared closely to see if the information sunk in, then continued; “Generally an alpha/omega relationship will have dominant/submissive tones to it because of how Alphas and Omegas are wired physiologically and psychologically, where the Alpha will often act possessively yet protectively of his/her Omega, and the Omega will bare their throat in an act of submission once enough trust has been established and will generally bottom in sexual relations due to anatomical circumstances. Many Omegas are rather shy, introverted and subdued... I’m a bit of an exception to that rule but don’t mind being an Omega in the bedroom. The only time when these dynamics change are during heats, when the Omega becomes demanding, possessive and almost animalistic in their need to be satisfied. In true mates all these behaviours are even more pronounced.” He owed it to Jared to be open with him and the young man seemed more at ease once he understood more of what was going on, even though he’d gone that cute shade of pink again all over his face. In Jensen’s limited interaction with humans he figured there to be two types, the ones that freaked out when learning about werewolf dynamics and never came around and those like Jared who were open-minded enough to entertain the possibility but then with insatiable hunger demanded to know everything there was to know about a given subject matter. But there was so much more he’d have to teach him, this was just the tip of the ice berg. 

“How do you know that you’re not..?” Jared asked. Jensen knew where Jared’s train of thought was going so answered before the other had even finished his question. “Male Omegas can only get pregnant when in heat, unlike females who are fertile at all times just more likely to get pregnant during heats.” Jensen replied factually. “Oh I see.” Jared said quietly. 

He stopped pacing and sat back down on the couch next to Jensen, who placed a soothing hand on his Alpha’s thigh. He’d have to explain about the fact that he ran away with just a small supply of suppressants (thank you Misha for getting them in the first place) was due to go into heat in just about 6 weeks from now. One thing at a time he figured was a good approach. Jensen leaned into his Alpha and felt the larger man relax slowly as his gears were turning no-doubt working his way through all this new information Jensen had just laid on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts, comments, feedback? Let me know what you think.


	5. Beginning of domestic bliss... maybe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared and Jensen find somewhat of a routine and Jared has his first painful interaction with Misha. Learning about werewolves for Jared continues in this chapter.

Over the next week Jared decided he needed to get back to work, being the only park ranger he kind of had to. He assured Jensen that he could stay for as long as he needed to and help himself to anything in his cabin. Jensen is grateful and his ankle and wrist are back to normal in a very quick succession, but he’s torn between his blooming love for the man who he knows is his mate and getting away from that same man to keep him safe. 

They talked a lot, snuggled heaps but never went any further than the gentle kisses that one time. Jared learned more and more about Jensen’s pack, came to despise them a little just by hearing Jensen talk about them. He also learned that Jensen intended to make his way further to Vancouver where he would then attempt to join a more mainstream pack, not quite as public as some of the American counterparts but better than Red River nonetheless. The one thing Jensen didn’t emphasize was that he didn’t stand a chance being accepted into that pack, given that he wasn’t a clean Omega. Jared didn’t really like the idea of Jensen leaving but didn’t say anything to that effect, tried to keep his face neutral. 

Jensen also finally got round to explaining that silver had a muting effect on werewolf instincts and physically caused a werewolf, no matter which form he was in, considerable pain and burns. It also prevented a werewolf from changing forms. Jared raged internally at the fact that Alistair had not only incapacitated Jensen by beating him to a pulp but had also put that nasty silver cock ring on Jensen to drive the point home. That was why Jared’s ring, a gift from his late grandfather had the effect on Jensen that it did. The ring found its way into a drawer and the cock ring disappeared permanently, Jared’s doing Jensen surmised. Jensen also confirmed Sam’s and Jared’s suspicion that he was indeed hit by a minivan and the people just took off leaving him for dead by the side of the road. Jensen had been running, thinking he was being followed and hadn’t realized how close he was to the road and akin to the proverbial deer-in-headlights froze when he saw the silver minivan approach. He told Jared not to worry about trying to file charges, he was fine after all and that’s what mattered. Jared had only accepted that reluctantly and with a frustrated huff. 

Jensen also explained to Jared that the only reason he was eloquent in the human tongue was because of Misha, who had a made it a point to educate his Omega friend as much as he could on anything and everything going on in the world beyond the pack. He wanted Jensen ready to leave should he ever have to leave the pack, as he knew that Jensen would not just bow down and bend over for a random Alpha, especially not Alistair. 

They also learned a lot about each other’s habits, Jensen was a night owl, while Jared was a morning person, they both loved coffee and as far as food went they had some amazing synergy. Jensen also was able to coax a few more details out of Jared before the younger man shut down about his history and why he wasn’t too comfortable getting close to people. Jensen figured he’d give him time and eventually Jared would explain if he was ready to do so. Jared didn’t seem to have issues being close to Jensen, even seeking out the other’s company whenever they went to sleep each evening. They’d fallen asleep on the couch, limbs tangled around one another multiple times. 

Trying to at least pay Jared back in some way he made it his project to clean up the vet room one day when Jared was off at work doing his rounds through the park, he’d been at Jared’s for just under a week now.

Focused hard on a pile of plastic bottles and re-arranging them correctly by size, he hadn’t noticed someone entering the room. “Who are you and why are you touching my vet gear?” Sam asked in a stern voice, having grabbed a scalpel off one of the tables as she said so. Sam identified Jensen as an intruder in Jared’s cabin, the tall albeit handsome man not familiar to her. Green eyes flash up at her from where Jensen crouched, looking at her in fear and confusion, as Jensen recognizes the woman as the one that sedated him in his wolf form. “Please … don’t hurt me.” He pleads, straightening up and then shuffles backwards away and further into the room. “I’m a… I’m a friend of Jared’s … staying with him.” Jensen said watching the gleaming metal tool in Sam’s hand, his wolf and Omega mind worried the scalpel was silver coated. “He didn’t tell me he had anyone staying with him. What is your name?” she asked, taking in the body language of the man across the room and how terrified he looked and sounded. “Jensen.” came the reply from the stranger. “Ok Jensen, please sit down over there while I call Jared.” Sam instructed as she watched the man scurry to the chair without hesitation, following her instructions obligingly, his eyes trained at the floor in front of him. Huh if only my kids listened to me like that Sam thought to herself, as she hit speed dial to get Jared on the line. 

“Oh shit. I’m sorry Sam, didn’t realize you’d come around today. Yeah Jensen is good, he’s a friend of mine from back home.” Jared lied. Sam knew the young man too well to know he was bending the truth just then. But what could Jared say instead, “Hey Sam meet my werewolf buddy.” “Whatever you say Jared, in all the time you’ve been here nobody from “back home” has ever visited you or been talked about positively in any way. When will you be back?” Sam replied. Jared answered: “Just about 5 minutes out, see you in a bit.” Sam put away her cell phone and continued to regard the young man sat on the chair, his eyes still averted. “So how do you know Jared?” she asked in what she hoped was an encouraging tone of voice. Jensen was visibly shaking now, fear rolling off him in waves. Having heard the conversation in its entirety thanks to his wolf hearing, Jensen replied: “We grew up next door from one another.” Jensen wasn’t an experienced liar, on account of the fact that werewolves and especially pack members had a mental link that would give it away if somebody told a fib. “Huh… why don’t I believe you.” Sam mused, sending a mock-angry smile Jensen’s way, while putting the scalpel down. She then walked over to see what Jensen had been doing, realizing he’d done a pretty good job at trying to clean up. “Let’s continue together?” she asked encouragingly. Jensen looked at her with wide eyes, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he wasn’t going to be put down again. Before that time when Sam sedated him, he’d never seen a needle before in his life. So the fact that the person who had wielded that painful thing, was asking him to help, took a while to sink in. But he eventually made his way over to where Sam stood and started to help her sort through the remaining gear that was in a big jumble on the various shelves along the walls of the room. They made good progress sorting useable from unusable and finding a good way to re-arrange everything that was useable. Realizing Jensen seemed genuinely interested Sam made sure to explain what she was doing, how to sort things and the concept of sterilized medical supplies and how to identify if something was still good to use or not. She also gave a quick explanation of what each of the items’ purpose was. Jensen counted out the quantities of everything while Sam started to make an inventory of it all, so she could figure out what she needed to either order replacements for and what she needed bring over from her clinic. Working together they made fast progress, losing track of time.

Jared took quite bit longer than the estimated 5 minutes to get home and only pulled in about 1.5 hours after the phone call with Sam, he had texted her intermittently to let her know he was running late. There was a matter of a moose wanting to do nose kisses with a car-load of tourists while they were eating lunch at one of the rest stops. The tourists had been able to flee into their vehicle but the windows had still been down and the head of the moose was into the driver’s seat window, two of the tourists plastered against the passenger side door, when Jared showed up. He distracted the moose and then approached slowly bolstering his own height as much as he could, brandishing the rifle in hand. The moose looked at him, chewing with much satisfaction on what used to be someone’s lunch sandwich and slowly trotted away into the forest. Calming down the panic attack of one of the tourists was what really ate up Jared’s time but once he’d assured himself that they were good to go and the car had pulled away from the rest stop in the direction of Vancouver, he went to his truck and made his way home. 

What he heard when he was just outside his cabin’s front door, was something he’d never heard before. It was the uncontrolled and purely joyful laughter of Jensen’s intermingled with Sam’s. As he opened the door wide, he saw Sam and Jensen in absolute stitches on the couch while they were watching something on TV in Jared’s living room. Stilling in the doorway, he watched the two as they wiped tears from their eyes. It looked good on Jensen to be laughing like that, his eyes crinkled beautifully around the edges, his beautifully straight teeth on display, his body relaxed and the laughter vibrating throughout. After a short while Jensen noticed him and his face brightened yet again and then some when he saw Jared standing there. He all but ran over to Jared, hugged him tightly and grabbing him by the wrist pulled him down on the couch next to Sam, leaving Jensen sandwiched in between them. His Omega felt like it had started the small beginnings of a new pack right then and purred in approval. Sam watched the interaction between Jensen and Jared with interest, it made her glad to see Jared with a gleam in his eyes, happiness emanating from the young man she’d come to love like her own son. 

“Well Jensen from back home, it’s been a pleasure meeting you and thank you for helping me with the inventory and righting things in the vet room.” Sam announced and before she had a chance to get up she was wrapped up in a hearty Jensen hug who without being obvious tried to get her scent committed to his memory, this was his Omega coming through loud and clear. “Thank you for letting me help, it’s been so nice to meet you too Sam. Please show me how to make apple pie sometime soon, ok?” Jensen asked with puppy dog eyes on full display. Jared raised his eyebrows at that last statement and worried for the safety of his cabin, given that Jensen had never even touched an appliance from what he’d told him. Jared got up also to walk Sam to her car, he was old-fashioned that way wanting to make sure she got there safely. Jared noted with a quick glance over his shoulder, while walking out with Sam, that Jensen had snuggled up into the couch by himself his eyes glued to the TV in front of him. 

Sam turned to face Jared before getting into her car. “So “back home” does you good.” She remarked simply and noticed with fondness how Jared blushed just a touch. “It’s complicated Sam, I’ll explain it to you but I still don’t quite know what this is that Jensen and I have so for now, he’s a friend from back home staying with me.” Jared explained as honestly as possible, well except for the back home part. He hadn’t been on the verge of a relationship with anyone for a long, long time so he really needed to wrap his head and heart around this before trying to explain it to someone else. “That’s okay Jared. I can see how comfortable you guys are with one another. Just promise me you’ll give him a chance… give him a chance to see the real Jared.” Sam replied softly. “I promise.” Jared replied not yet believing his own words with the anxiety that was rolling around in his belly just then. “Good night Sam. Text me when you’re home safe.” Jared stated. “Always do Jared.” Sam replied and drove off. 

Jared knew he was falling for Jensen, he enjoyed being close to the man but didn’t want to make a move to take it further just yet, since they only just met under very odd circumstances. Not to mention he didn’t know if human / werewolf relationships even worked or if that was allowed. Given that packs had so many rules, he kind of worried but then figured he wasn’t pack, not really, except to Jensen. 

Jared walked back towards the cabin, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye across the street. Staring back at him were two amber coloured orbs glowing ominously. It was the gray wolf, Misha was what Jensen called him. Instead of walking away, Jared slowly approached and walked towards the wolf.  
“Misha, is it?” Jared asked quietly, not sure if he wanted Jensen to hear. The wolf turned its head to the side at the question but offered no reply and started padding lightly across the street, looking both ways for traffic first and walked closer towards Jared. The wolf was now only about a pickup truck’s length away and the two of them eyed each other carefully. “Hkm… if you are Misha do you think you could shift so we can talk?” Jared tried. Faster than Jared could react, the wolf was on him, attacking him jumping with all four paws airborne, taking Jared down onto his back in his own front yard. Jared only just managed to break his fall with his hands a little bit, successfully stopping the back of his head from making contact with the gravel underneath him. A lot of small pebbles painfully buried into his back and thighs with the wolf snarling on top of him a paw on each shoulder, hind legs firmly placed on each of Jared’s thighs pinning him effectively to the ground. The wolf was larger than Jensen and clearly stronger and he was heavy, solid muscle. 

Jared’s breath caught in his throat, this felt too much like his nightmare the other night and his heart started beating frantically when the wolf’s muzzle came down near his neck sniffing and growling menacingly. Jared turned his face to the side away as far as he could from the wolf and the teeth that could end him in a heartbeat. Not realizing that he just acted as submissively as he could towards werewolf as he could by baring his neck to the creature. The claws on Jared’s shoulders drew blood where they dug into his skin and similarly the hind paws were claiming their space on Jared’s thighs. He hissed in pain at the sensation but at the same time adrenaline must have been starting to pump because he was flooded with anger and the need to get away from this beast, to keep Jensen safe.

The wolf looked down at him, while Jared’s hazel eyes glared at the wolf with anger and fierceness. Bundling all his strength into the move, Jared tensed his core and jackknifed entire body up and sideways, moving his thighs to one side to imbalance the wolf, while swiping at the wolf’s shoulders with both arms in an attempt to push the animal to one side so he could get out from under it. The wolf clearly didn’t expect the fight and toppled to the side after being impacted by Jared’s legs and arms. 

The human had shown submission and yet he fought, the wolf didn’t know what to make of this but saw it as a challenge and when he saw the human mid-crouch just about to get up on its two legs, it pounced again. The wolf’s claws were out and it jumped onto Jared’s back drawing long claw marks from his shoulders down down to the small of his back. With satisfaction the Alpha heard the human cry out in pain, some of his strength going out of him. 

Jared’s legs buckled and he fell forward with the sudden onslaught of pain and the added weight on his back and he found himself flat on the ground on his stomach. The wolf blanketed him completely from knee to neck, Jared’s hands were awkwardly caught at his sides and partially underneath his own torso, completely useless, his face pressed into the dirt and gravel of his driveway, vision obscured by his bangs. The wolf pressed down with his full weight, causing explosions of pain in Jared’s back and when Jared felt the wolf’s hot breath against his neck, he forced himself to go completely lax to hopefully signify surrender. The wolf licked Jared’s hair out of the way along the pulse line of his throat. Physically Jared was now completely still under the big wolf but his heart rate was irregular, breathing shallow and he started to feel a bit dizzy. He was going into shock his brain supplied, he’d seen it on other people before the tell-tale signs before the body shut down for its own well-being. The wolf held its position teeth bared ready to kill its prey.


	6. Hurt and comfort reversed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jensen take care of Jared in this chapter after Misha misunderstood Jared's intention, truth comes to light.

“No Misha!! What are you doing?” Jensen yelled, as he stood in the doorway of the cabin. Jared tried to follow the voice visually but didn’t want to move his head, not even a fraction of an inch. From his point of view on the ground he saw a pair of bare feet walk towards him, which within a manner of seconds had turned into four tawny furred paws and a pair of boxers on the ground. His wolf Jensen was leaping towards him and the wolf on his back. Jensen growled deep in his throat and came to stand right next to Jared’s face licking his cheek in a comforting way. Jensen could sense how close to panicking Jared was, and it made the Omega in him whine to see his Alpha injured and scared like that. 

Jensen looked up at Misha’s wolf form, pleading and communicating wordlessly as wolves do to release Jared, explaining that he was his true mate. Misha let go immediately, carefully retracting his mouth from near Jared’s neck. Jensen watched as Jared collapsed completely, his eyes at half-mast following Jensen’s movements sluggishly. Jensen turned back to human, now that he knew Misha would not kill Jared and clasped his hands around the back of Jared’s neck and rubbed the other gently along his jaw line. “You’re okay Jared, I’m sorry. I’ll explain.” Jensen babbled worry and concern entrenched in every word he said. Jared’s skin was clammy and cool under Jensen’s palm and it wasn’t before long that the younger man lost consciousness altogether. Jensen wasn’t well educated on human health, so he freaked out when Jared wasn’t responding anymore. 

Misha turned shortly after Jensen, not that Jared was still awake for that. “He carried you out of the forest all beaten up and you’ve not left the house since. I thought he was holding you against your will.” Misha tried to explain himself and his reaction, he had been waiting for an opportunity to attack Jared for a while now. “You’ve got a few things wrong Misha. I’ll explain but please help me get him inside, we need to tend to his wounds. Why is he not responding?” Jensen instructed and panicked at the same time. “It’s okay Jensen, he’s unconscious, his heartbeat is there and he’s breathing.” Misha explained calmly. Between the two of them they carried Jared inside face-down regardless of how awkward that was, intent on not hurting his back any further. 

They deposited Jared on his bed and removed his park ranger uniform so that they could assess the injuries and left him in his boxers, which were partially torn on account of Misha’s claws making short work of them both at the front and back of Jared’s thighs. “Oh this is not bad Jensen, he’ll be healed up by tomorrow.” Misha said hopefully. “I don’t believe humans heal as quickly as werewolves Misha, they kept commenting on that while they took care of my wounds. That they couldn’t explain how my ribs were mended after just 24 hours.” Jensen explained distractedly while he dug through Jared’s first aid kit for what he needed. 

Jensen repeated on Jared what he learned from when he was the one laid out on the bed in front of the other, cleansed the wounds and applied topical cream where needed and bandaged everything up carefully. The claw marks on Jared’s back were bleeding profusely though and no matter how much gauze he applied the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Jensen was confused by this as he’d never seen a wound like that, that just wouldn’t seal up easily. 

“Misha if you’re going to stay here please put some clothes on, check that drawer unit over there pick whatever fits, I’m going to have to call Sam to help me with this. I don’t know how to fix this, you got him really deep with your claws.” Jensen stated without room for discussion. “I’ll leave if you want me to.” Misha offered. “No I would rather you stayed so Jared can talk to you when he’s awake, there are many things that I can’t really explain well to him on account of not being an Alpha. Also I want him to know that you mean him no harm.” Jensen explained, hoping Misha wouldn’t dig much further. “Ok I’ll take your word for it. I’m not expected back at the pack until mid day tomorrow. So I have time.” Misha supplied helpfully.

Jensen grabbed Jared’s cell phone and after some fidgeting he found Sam with a few numbers next to it, pushing the green button with the weird symbol on it and seconds later Sam’s voice came through. “S.. Sam… it’s er… Jensen.” “What’s up Jensen, are you okay?” Sam asked with worry in her tone. “It’s Jared, he was attacked after you left. A wolf, his back just won’t stop bleeding. ... Please I need your help.” Jensen replied desperately. “Ok Jensen, I’ll be there as fast as I can I’m not home yet so I won’t be long. Here’s what I want you to do. Take the gauze from the vet room, the really big kind and apply it to the wound with pressure. And just keep switching to new gauze if it keeps bleeding through. I’ll be there shortly. You can do this Jensen.” Sam said in an encouraging tone. “Ok Sam, hurry… please.” Jensen said before putting the phone down not knowing he had to push another button to hang up. Sam left the line open and put her phone on speaker while making a u-turn and heading back at break-neck speed to Jared’s cabin. She figured Jensen had stayed on the line on purpose.

She always had her vet and human first aid kit in the car and if Jared got mauled she’d probably need to stitch him up. A different male voice took her out of her thoughts. 

“I’m sorry Jensen, I didn’t know. He submitted and then he started fighting and tried to run.” Misha implored quietly. “You know how that looks for a wolf, for an Alpha.” Jensen nodded his assent while he applied pressure to Jared’s wounds, instructing Misha to do the same with the marks on Jared’s thighs. Jensen understood Misha’s reaction, he didn’t fault his friend for it at all, he reacted like any werewolf would. If prey and in this case Jared unfortunately was relegated to being prey for Misha, showed signs of submission forfeiting the fight, as he had done by baring his neck, the predator would go crazy with rage if the prey changed its mind. “He doesn’t know our ways, or our body language. I’m trying to teach him.” Jensen said timidly. “It will take a while there are more differences between humans and weres than you and I both thought there were.” Misha looked at Jensen with sympathetic eyes, he believed his friend when he said that this human was his true mate and would help him proof it in whatever way he could. 

Sam was flabbergasted by what she heard while the line was still open on Jared’s phone and hers and pulled over to the side of the road, trying to gather her thoughts, listening intently to Jensen and his friend. Weres, were they talking werewolves, she wondered. Once she heard that conversation it all started to make sense to her and she started to wonder if Jared knew. Knowledge of werewolves was the norm in the veterinary community but a lot of the factual information was kept on a need-to-know basis, since the PM of Canada himself figured it better that way. Regardless of her own feelings about werewolves and her knowledge about them, she had to go and help Jared. Whatever had led to this situation she was sure there was a reasonable explanation. She’d pretend to not have heard the conversation at all until the time was right, the priority right now was to help Jared. 

The cabin looked quiet when Sam pulled up, the only odd thing was a pair boxer shorts in the driveway. Not touching those she thought to herself as she ran in through the front door first aid gear in hand and walked right through to Jared’s bedroom. 

She’d done her fair share of patching Jared up, he had a way of not wanting to hurt wildlife while trying to help it but not always succeeding in not getting hurt himself when a mountain lion or upset racoon scratched at him. 

Jared was flat on his stomach on the bed, face turned towards the side, his long hair stuck behind his ear, eyes closed with a sheen of sweat all over his skin. Jensen was gently wiping down Jared’s brow while another man was applying pressure and gauze bandages to Jared’s back. “Hey Jensen.” Sam said calmly. “Who’s your friend?” Jensen all but jumped off the bed and gave her as enthusiastic a hug as he had earlier tonight, albeit with sad and scared eyes, relief emanating off of him. “So glad you are here. I… I was on the couch and heard Jared scream. I went to the front door to see what was going on and Jared was in the driveway a wolf on his back trying to bite him. I… I scared it off.” Jensen said his eyes flitting towards the floor immediately. She’d have to talk to Jensen about this whole lying thing, it wasn’t doing him any favours and left her a bit suspicious as well. “And who’s your friend?” “Oh Misha, this is Sam, Sam this is Misha, he and I grew up together.” Jensen said and for once Sam actually believed to be hearing the truth as it rolled off Jensen’s tongue much more smoothly than any of Jensen’s story so far. Sam took in the other man, he was about the same height as Jensen quite broad and muscular a bit larger than Jensen with startlingly blue eyes and dark unruly hair wearing a pair of Jared’s sweatpants inside out. She also noticed that the man was quite dirty as if he’d been on a multi-day hike without a shower. “I expect you to tell me what really happened once I’ve taken care of Jared, you got hat Jensen?” Sam said sternly this time around. “Yes ma’am.” Jensen replied meekly, while stepping out of the way so Sam could approach Jared’s bed. 

Sam’s eyes widened, the claw marks on Jared’s back were long and deep gouges, four long claw marks from either shoulder down to just over his rib cage. She would have to suture them up and could probably make do with butterfly bandages on the scratches on the back of his thighs. She knew Jared’s tetanus shot was up to date, so that wasn’t a worry. Checking Jared over, she was convinced that he’d gone into shock, his pulse was fluttering but was steady and not irregular which was good. He had lost quite a bit of blood though which worried her a little bit. She also noticed that Jensen or Misha must have already bandaged some injuries up on Jared’s shoulders and near his collar bone, the bandages weren’t seeping blood and looked well applied so she left them alone for now after asking Jensen to explain what he’d done so far. The man seemed a bit unsure but explained to her exactly what he’d done and used before applying the gauze bandages and she was satisfied that what he’d done would do for now. 

She checked if Jared was still out, gently rubbed her fingers across his temple and forehead not getting any reaction. Opening her kit she went to work, intermittently giving instructions to Misha or Jensen to get her something from the vet room or to help her when she needed something out of her reach. It took a while and was a very bloody undertaking but she had all of Jared’s wounds cleaned. Clean stitches down the claw marks on his back and an entire package of butterfly bandages on the back of his thighs. 

Checking Jared’s pulse again, she was satisfied that he’d be okay and settled in on a chair next to his bed to wait for him to wake up. She had a glass of water and painkillers at the ready on the bedside table. Misha went out to the living room while Jensen went to sit on the bed next to Jared, his back against the headboard, thighs and legs touching alongside the unconscious man’s shoulder and arm. “I’m so sorry Jared, I should have explained more to you.” Jensen said quietly with a single tear running down his cheek. 

Sam watched the one-sided dialogue but didn’t say anything. She would make them lay it all out on the table once Jared was up and lucid. 

After they’d sat like this for about an hour and Jensen snoring lightly, his head propped up against the wall and Misha poking his head into the room every so often, Sam noticed a small movement in Jared’s hand. A long sigh and pained grunt made its way out of Jared’s mouth before he fully came to. All he felt was pain when he found his way to consciousness, his back felt flailed and on fire, there were points of pain on the front of his thighs and his clavicles. He didn’t really want to wake up just yet but heard a gentle voice coaxing him. “That’s it Jared, open your eyes.” Sam, that was Sam’s voice Jared recognized and he started fighting his own impulses to crack his eyes open. Hazel eyes looked blurrily in her general direction as Sam had come to squat down next to the bed, bringing herself into Jared’s field of vision. 

Jared’s eyes adjusted to the soft light of the room, taking in Sam’s blue eyes full of concern. His brain fought hard to figure out what had happened and how he’d ended up here. “Was... in the driveway.” Jared said mumbling the words with his face flush to the mattress he was lying on. “They brought you inside Jared, Jensen and Misha did.” Sam explained calmly. The hazel eyes looked at her, devoid of comprehension just then. “Huh?” Jared huffed out. “Jared, I want you to drink some water and take these painkillers. You may not be feeling it just yet but you got scratched up pretty good, worse than that mountain lion a few years ago.” Sam said with a sad smile. Sam felt someone sidle in alongside her, it was Jensen who squatted next to her. Hazel eyes shifted over to him with a small spark as Jared recognized Jensen. “You’re a wolf.” Jared said and chuckled almost a little maniacally to himself. Jensen glanced over at Sam at that statement fear and worry apparent. “Jensen I know, don’t worry we’ll talk about it later.” Sam assured the Omega. While Jared heard that being said, his brain wasn’t quite at full power and didn’t connect the dots just yet. 

Jensen decided to take that at face value and gently rubbed his palm over Jared’s face, shifting some rebelling hair off of his face. Sam successfully managed to get Jared to drink some water and swallow the pills she had ready for him, while Jensen decided to sit on the floor next to the bed on a cushion, holding on to Jared’s hand who gripped his as tight as Jared could just then. Jared let his eyes wander over a bit from Jensen’s face and started violently at what he saw in the bathroom mirror through the open bathroom door. The gray wolf was standing in his bedroom door. “No! Get him away from me…. Please don’t hurt me anymore.” Jared yelled as much as his scratchy voice allowed him to, he tried to push himself up on the bed but collapsed in on himself as his back reminded him just how injured he was when he tried to engage his shoulder muscles, whimpering in pain as he laid on the bed. “Whoa, whoa… relax Jared. It’s okay, that’s Misha, Jensen’s friend.” Samantha explained, her words not having any effect on the young man who was still staring terrified into the mirror behind Jensen. Jensen switched his hold on Jared’s hand to one that was more firm, gripping Jared and holding him down and close leaning over him pressing down on the back of Jared’s neck gently to get the man to relax. The touch seemed to do the trick and while Jared was clearly still agitated his breathing normalized and he was able to focus on calming down, grounding himself with Jensen’s touch. 

“Over here Misha, he needs to see you in human form.” Jensen said, understanding with full clarity why Jared was freaking out. Misha walked slowly around to Sam and Jensen, also crouching down so he was at eye level with Jared. Jared’s eyes went wide and he tried hard to focus on who this was in front of him. “Jared I am so sorry for attacking you. I … I was mis-informed about your intentions, I mean you no harm.” Misha stated in a tone that was both sincere and filled with guilt. “I hope you will let me explain my actions once you get better. I understand you are Jensen’s true mate and I will do everything to help keep you and Jensen safe, you have my promise.” 

Hazel eyes had finally managed to focus on the man speaking to him and his eyes widened in surprise when he heard that last sentence of Misha’s, looking over at Jensen questioningly, he noticed that his wolf had gone adorably pink and turned his head away bashfully. With a small chuckle but assured of his own physical safety, Jared gave into his body’s need for rest and shut his eyes, letting the drugs do their thing in helping him feel less pain. Jensen continued rubbing soothing circles on his neck for a bit and then turned around to Sam: “I think we need to talk.” he said worriedly. She nodded her head, pointing towards the kitchen. 

All three of them walked out of the bedroom, making sure there was water within reach for Jared when he woke up and pulled the door over so they could have a talk at the kitchen table.

**Author's Note:**

> My first upload ever :) Hope you enjoyed reading.  
> Of course I do not own the characters i.e. J2 in any way but had fun writing this. 
> 
> Proofreading the subsequent chapters and will upload as soon as ready.


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